


Turning Circles

by roonilbwazlib



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Barnsley, Crushes, Domestic Fluff, Draco Malfoy in the Muggle World, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Good Malfoy Family (Harry Potter), Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Mentions of Cancer, Mild Language, Muggle AU, Mutual Pining, POV Albus Severus Potter, Pining, Scorbus, Scorbusfest, Scorbusfest 2020, Secret Crush, Secrets, Teenagers, Texting, figure skating, ice hockey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26083795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roonilbwazlib/pseuds/roonilbwazlib
Summary: Scorpius is a figure skater, Albus plays junior hockey. A random schedule change causes them to bump into each other for the first time - and from there, it’s a slippery slope into mutual pining and endless maybes. They might train at the same rink, but will any of them be brave enough to break the ice?Featuring secrets, crushes, secret crushes and everyone’s favourite Father of the Year, Draco Malfoy at his very finest. This is basically forty thousand words of fluff and fun, set in a Muggle AU in the North of England.Written for Scorbusfest 2020 using a prompt from the utterly incredible LittleRose13!
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Comments: 125
Kudos: 121
Collections: Scorbus Fest 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have had so much fun writing this and challenging myself to go outside of my comfort zone! It's one of the longest fics I have ever done and also my first Muggle AU, and I'm really proud of how it turned out. 
> 
> I can't thank my amazing best pal and beta reader G enough for all her early excitement, kind words and hand holding, and I'm also so grateful to everyone in the CC fandom/tumblr community for their love and support for this story so far - I really hope you all enjoy reading the final thing as much as I enjoyed creating it!
> 
> Thank you also to LittleRose13 for such an inspiring prompt, and to the wonderful organisers and hosts of this festival - I hope you all have the best week!
> 
> I'm @xpectopatronerd on Twitter, @roonil_b_wazlib on Instagram and "roonilbwazlib" on Tumblr if anyone wants to come say hi :)

“Albus! Earth to Albus! Are you coming?”

Albus turned at the sound, dragging his eyes away from the clear plastic partition between the ice rinks. He flushed, blinking, and smiled at his teammate.

“Yeah. Coming.”

Karl headed towards the changing rooms and Albus followed, resisting the temptation to look back over his shoulder. He’d never seen anyone use the other rink before, not in all his years of practice - and especially not anyone like that. 

The boy he’d spotted had looked as though he was floating. Admittedly, Albus didn’t know much about figure skating, but if questioned he’d have assumed that elaborate and romantic-looking dances of the type this boy was doing were usually undertaken by a couple. Except, whoever this was, he was out there on his own. Swooping and swirling and spinning and totally dominating the ice, stretching out his limbs as if he meant to cover every inch of it by himself. 

Albus didn’t think he’d ever seen anything, or anyone, as beautiful in his life.

Shaking his head and pushing his way into the changing room, Albus tugged off his gloves and helmet before bending down to untie his skates. He hoped his position was sufficiently hiding the blush he knew had pooled across his cheeks, because his teammates would see right through any attempted excuses that he was just ‘hot and bothered from training’. Blushing involved a whole other colour spectrum compared to exertion, as Albus well knew, because his tendency to bloom at the slightest embarrassment or incentive was a source of merciless teasing from his older brother James.

He especially resented being so easily provoked now, when he was fairly sure he’d only been staring at the figure skater with surprise and admiration. He knew the complexity of those moves revealed a real talent - but, if that were true, why had his heartbeat sped up? And why was he so desperate to go and take another look? 

Albus had known he was gay from as far back as he could remember, and he’d been officially out for the past three years, but that didn’t mean he fell head over heels for every pretty boy within eyesight. Especially when he didn’t even know if the boy in question this time was pretty or not. He’d only been watching him for twenty, thirty seconds max before Karl had interrupted, and regrettably, he hadn’t been anywhere near close enough to see his face. 

With a grunt, Albus wrenched both his skates off, kicking them under the bench so they were out of the way whilst he showered and changed. If Coach saw, he’d be given a reprimand - Coach was hot on wiping and packing away skates straight away, before they could get scratched or stomped over - but Albus was simultaneously feeling tired from practice, and wired from the new boys’ intrusion into his space and his thoughts. He needed to get in the shower before his teammates stole all the hot water, and he couldn’t be bothered fiddling around with his skates until he was fully dressed.

If a little part of Albus’s brain helpfully suggested that he might intentionally be leaving himself something to do after all the others had finished up, he ignored it. He had no reason to hang around the changing room, and no reason to hope someone might come in whilst he was there.

Or alternatively, to hope that they didn’t, so he could catch a little bit more of their figure skating rehearsal on his way out.

\----------

A few days later, Albus was back at the rink and feeling uncharacteristically grumpy. The team had been playing well, and they were on track to finish in the top three in the Junior League Under 18’s for the first time in forever - but for the first time in almost as long, Albus’s heart just didn’t seem to be in it. He couldn’t seem to focus or concentrate, and as the puck flew past him for the fourth time that practice, their team captain finally lost his cool and blew his whistle to signal time out.

Skating over to where Albus stood, hockey stick hanging limply by his side, Yann Fredericks let rip. 

“What’s up with you this week, Potter? That’s four biscuits you’ve missed today! Are you ill? Do you need to sit out?”

Albus shook his head. “Sorry, Yann. I dunno. It’s just -"

“It’s just nothing, when the finals are in less than six weeks. You know, the finals we’ve been working towards all year? You also know, as well as I do, that if we lose, we -” he gestured to himself and Albus - “won’t get another shot.”

“I know.” Albus couldn’t quite look his captain in the eye. “I’m really sorry. It won’t happen in the real game, I promise.”

“You’re our best defence, Potter,” Yann continued as if Albus hadn’t spoken. “You can’t let us down now. It doesn’t matter that today isn’t a real game - you gotta act like it is. You gotta stop staring over at that other rink, like the game’s gonna be over there or something. It’ll happen right here, with or without you. And trust me, we’d all rather it happen with you, but Coach won’t hesitate to sub if you don’t buck up.”

Albus nodded in agreement, knowing a final warning when he heard one. The worst thing about it was that he knew Yann was right. He had been off since their last practice. His body may have been attempting to play hockey, but his mind was very much still focused on that figure skating boy. 

It was especially frustrating given that he wasn’t even on the other rink today - he hadn’t shown up once since Albus first saw him, and Albus was beginning to wonder whether he’d imagined it all entirely. Either way, he definitely couldn’t justify jeopardising the finals on what amounted to a baseless - and potentially non-existent - crush.

Luckily, Albus’s helmet and mouthguard hid most of his blossoming embarrassment as Yann spun around to signal to the rest of the team that time out was over. With a whistle, the other players got back into position and restarted their game. 

This time, Albus was determined he wouldn’t let a single puck past him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains the first dialogue I have ever written for JSP, so hopefully he's not too out of character! There are also a few swears flying around, for anyone who would prefer to have a heads up about that sort of thing.

“I can’t believe they moved practice to 8am. On a Sunday.” Albus grunted as he climbed into his brothers’ car the following weekend.

“Woe is you, little brother,” James smirked. Putting the key in the ignition, he belted up and turned to Albus, grinning. “Reckon Coach is up to date with his first aid training? Because it’s a medical miracle that you’re walking and talking at this time. You might just like, collapse when your brain finally catches up.”

“Fuck off.” Albus scowled, turning away from his brother to frown out of the window. “It’s barely even light out here. This is inhumane.”

“Sure, Al. So call the United Nations. I’m sure the Geneva Convention will back you up. You’re clearly a victim of the biggest human rights crisis the world has ever seen. You - “

“I said fuck OFF, James. Can you just drive please? I can’t deal with being chewed out for being late as well as waking up at sodding six am.”

James let go of the steering wheel and held his hands up in mock-defeat, eyebrows raised at Albus’s outburst. “Whoah, dude. Chill your beans. We’re going right now.”

Albus only huffed and turned back to the window, glaring at the empty street where his neighbours were presumably and sensibly still in bed. 

“You know, a thanks would be nice,” James said, fully aware he was pushing his luck. “Not every brother would wake up at ‘sodding six am’ on a weekend to ferry his grumpy arsehole of a sibling all the way to Sheffield.”

“Hmmph,” sniffed Albus, refusing to turn around. “You’re only taking me because dad said if you wanted a car, you had to pull your weight and take your turn being the family taxi.”

“As true as that may be, little bro, I’m also doing it out of the goodness of my own heart. Believe it or not, I want us to win as much as you do.”

At that, Albus finally twisted round to catch James’s eye, feeling slightly abashed. “I’m sorry. I know you still miss it.”

James had gotten too old for the Junior League two summers ago, and despite playing with everything he had, he hadn’t been scouted by any of the Senior teams. It had been a real sore point for a few months, as James had put all his eggs in the ice hockey basket and so had been completely blindsided when the dream he’d held all through his teens to go professional hadn’t come to fruition. 

Things were better now - James had a part time job at a local pub that he loved, and he was studying sports physiotherapy at the local college - but Albus still worried that if he ended up getting scouted this season, James’s bravado would crumble a lot quicker than it took to create. He also felt guilty complaining to James about practice, when he knew his brother would probably give everything to be joining him back on the ice.

“Yeah. Nah. Kinda. I mean, of course I do. But it’s not that,” James answered, putting his arm across the back of Albus’s seat as he reversed out of the Potters’ driveway. “I bet Teddy fifty quid we’d win. And I don’t have fifty quid. So unless you want your favourite brother to go destitute, you’d best bring home that winners trophy next month.”

Albus snorted. Conversations with James were always like this - as soon as anyone got anywhere close to a sensitive or serious topic, the eldest Potter sibling backed off and either changed the subject or made a joke of it.

“You’re my only brother, dipshit. And you’re hardly destitute, you bought two new pairs of fuck ugly trainers last week alone.”

“Hey, less of the language, little bro! Leave my superior footwear alone and save all that pent up aggression for the game, OK?”

Albus smirked, then ducked as James reached over to smack the side of his head. As tired as he was, he had to admit it was nice to spend time with James one on one, even if they were only bickering in a car.

With Albus’s demanding practice schedule and James’s lectures and work shifts, the two brothers were barely ever at home together; rather orbiting each other like planets around the sun. Moments like this were rare as their dad usually drove Albus to and from the rink four times a week, but he’d gone away with their mum on one of her work trips this weekend; leaving Albus and James and their younger sister Lily to fend for themselves. 

So far, this had involved two nights of takeaway in a row, a complete lack of chores, and James’s best friend Teddy Lupin spending every waking second since Friday night spread eagled on their sofa, attempting to teach James the finer points of Dungeons & Dragons so they could ‘join a virtual cohort online’.

Albus liked Teddy, and didn’t mind his near-constant presence in their house, but sometimes he couldn’t help feeling jealous of the relationship Teddy shared with his older brother. He seemed to see James more than Albus did, and as Albus didn’t exactly have a best friend himself, he often felt self-consciously like a third wheel whenever Teddy was over at theirs. He’d half expected Teddy to join them on the ride to the rink this morning, given he and James had been even more joined at the hip than usual this weekend - but they’d instead left Teddy half undressed on the sofa, snoring his head off. James had glanced at his friend fondly as they’d left, promising to bring coffee and breakfast back, although the other boy quite clearly couldn’t hear him.

Very occasionally, Albus caught an expression on James’s face when he looked at Teddy that was a bit too soft to be the sort of look a friend gives another friend, but James never said anything, and as far as everyone was aware, the eldest Potter sibling was 100% straight. 

Still, Albus wondered. James might not blush at the slightest provocation like Albus did, and he was undeniably a lot cooler and smoother in every way, but Albus knew that look. 

It was the look he suspected he’d had on his own face whilst he was staring at that boy from the week before - and yes, before his own brain chipped in in James’s voice, he knew that was ridiculous. If they were going to compare the two situations, then Teddy had been in James’s life since they were both toddlers. James had lots of reasons to love him, even if romance wasn’t one of them. Albus, on the other hand, didn’t even know this other boys’ name - let alone what he was like, or what he looked like. 

At this point, Albus had even convinced himself that the other night was total fluke. He’d made peace with never seeing the strange boy again, and he told himself he wasn’t even going to look for him this morning. It was too early, and he had too many drills to concentrate on.

\----------

Half an hour later, Albus froze as he exited the changing rooms . 

The other boy was here again.

Actually here. Fifty metres away on the smaller rink, flying and spinning and gliding and making Albus’s heart beat to the rhythm of his feet.

Albus immediately felt himself go red again, and silently chastised his scarlet cheeks. He’d seen people skate before, for god’s sake - he skated, along with 70% of his entire family - but then again, he rationalised, nobody he actually knew of skated like that. Nobody on the TV or Youtube even skated like that. This boy was… different. 

He was also completely alone again. Except, wait - no, he had a coach, sitting in the stands by himself, watching the boy and scribbling things down in a little notebook. Albus couldn’t imagine anyone had any criticism of what the boy was doing, so assumed his coach was just creating pages and pages of gold star doodles and huge number 10’s ready to hold up when the boy finished his routine.

Aware that he had approximately five seconds before someone noticed him staring, Albus tore his eyes away and tried to re-focus on his own teammates, who were taking their positions for drills they were about to work through. 

Albus knew he couldn’t afford to let himself be distracted again, even though he actually had a concrete, real reason for it today. The whole team had agreed to move their Sunday afternoon practice to 8am to give themselves even more time on the ice, and Albus couldn’t be the one to let them down. Not this close to the finals. 

\----------

“Nice work, lads. You all brought it today. If we keep playing like this, we’ve got nothing to worry about. Keep this energy, keep this hunger. Don’t get complacent.” 

Albus pulled off his helmet as practice ended, skating over to join his teammates in a huddle and listen to the debrief from Coach. 

“Al.” Yann reached out after Coach had finished speaking, grabbing Albus’s arm as the rest of the players headed off to the showers . “Well done today, mate. Good to see you back on form.”

Albus smiled in relief. He’d actually managed to lose himself in the practice game today; he suspected that knowing his distraction was actually finally here again had enabled him to stop wondering where he was and who he was and just focus on the task at hand.

“Cheers. Told you last week was a blip.”

Albus met his captains’ fist for a gloved bump and Yann then hurried ahead, wanting to catch up with one of the others. Albus continued at his own pace, waiting until he got off the ice to steal a glance over at the other rink, half hoping but half not expecting the other boy to still be there.

He was. 

Albus’s breath hitched. Looking back over his shoulder, he checked his teammates had all gone into the changing rooms and then slowly inched his way towards the second rink, wanting an even closer look. The boy wasn’t skating quite as fast or elaborately as the first time Albus had seen him, and seemed instead to be focusing on getting one particular spin just right, repeating it again and again.

Albus watched as the boy swooped around in a half circle, before bringing one knee up towards his waist and rotating slowly on the spot. He then lowered himself down on his other leg, until he was almost sitting on the ice, before reaching back up towards the ceiling and meeting his hands above his head as he resumed a standing position. Albus thought he looked a bit like a plant, growing and stretching towards the sun and rotating to ensure every leaf got an equal portion of light.

Because the boy was turning, Albus still couldn’t get a proper look at his face, but did notice that he had long golden hair that almost gleamed under the harsh spotlights. The majority of it was tied up in a bun on top of his head, but a few wispy curls had escaped around his neck, catching the light and making it hard to get the rest of his head in focus. He was wearing green training leggings and a tight black top that looked to be lower cut at the back and sides, showing off his sculpted shoulders and muscled torso, and he was tall - much taller than Albus, that much was clear even from this distance. His legs seemed to go on forever. 

Albus swallowed, hating that he was probably being a massive creep and worrying that the boy would stop spinning and notice him at any second. He knew he should go, James would be waiting outside to drive him home and he wouldn’t be happy if Albus caused him to waste any more of his Sunday - but he couldn’t look away. 

Instead, Albus watched as the boy tried the corkscrew spin a few more times, marvelling at how he didn’t seem to be getting dizzy at all. Albus knew if he tried that move he’d end up on his arse after two goes, but the boy didn’t even seem to be breaking a sweat. 

He stood there, transfixed, until the sound of his teammates coming back out of the changing room showered and dressed and ready to head home shook him out of his reverie. He finally tore his gaze away when he heard Craig call out his name, incredulous. 

“Al? What are you doing? Where were you mate?”

Albus knew his infamous blush was back, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Craig was standing next to Karl, their kit bags hanging over their shoulders, staring at Albus still padded up in full gear. Craig just looked confused, but Karl was looking between Albus and the other rink, a smirk working its way onto his lips.

Albus suddenly felt a bit sick. Was he being really obvious? His teammates knew he was gay, he’d come out to them when they were all fifteen, and he’d been terrified they’d cut him off and treat him differently - but apart from a bit of good natured ribbing, they’d all accepted it straight away without a second thought. Albus had been inexplicably relieved, but that didn’t mean he wanted them teasing him about fancying boys. Especially this one.

“Oh, I think Albus was just checking out some fresh meat” Karl grinned, confirming that yes, he had cottoned on to exactly what Albus was doing and thinking.

Albus’s blush grew even fiercer and he forced himself to maintain eye contact with Karl.

“I dunno what you’re talking about,” he said, praying his voice sounded normal. “I just needed a minute to cool off and think through that new blocking move I tried out earlier.”

“Yeah yeah, pull the other one Albus,” Karl laughed, nudging Craig and nodding his head towards the stairs up to the exit. “Come on Craig, let’s leave Albus to cool off. Hey, you know what’ll help with that Al? A cold shower.” 

Smirking again, Karl dragged Craig over to the staircase, sticking his tongue out and waggling his eyebrows at Albus as he went past. 

Flipping them off, Albus tried to scowl but couldn’t help but laugh at Karl’s ridiculous expression. He didn’t mind being found out, not really. Karl and Craig were decent enough, and it’s not like there was actually anything to find out. Was it really a crime to watch someone skating, at a skating rink? 

Albus thought his teammate might be onto something with his suggestion of a cold shower though. He suddenly felt like his stomach was trying out the spinny move the other boy was trying to nail, and he knew his increased body temperature and thudding heartbeat had nothing to do with the embarrassment of ‘being caught’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone fancies taking a look at the actual rink that Albus and Scorpius practice at, you can Google "iceSheffield" - it's a real place, home to the real Sheffield Steelers, where I used to go and skate myself as a kid!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost 4000 words in, and our boys are finally about to properly meet! All awkward conversations inspired by author's own...

A week later, Albus and his teammates were getting dressed after their second Sunday morning practice when the changing room door swung open and the figure skating boy actually walked in. Albus barely had time to process what was happening before the boy looked straight at him and smiled, and Albus literally felt his knees go weak.

Whoever he was, he was as beautiful as Albus has suspected from afar. He had a slim, almost pointed face, with pale skin and hazel eyes and just a smattering of fine, barely-there freckles. His blond hair looked even more fluffy than before, and his lips were so soft and so pink that Albus had a strong and overwhelming desire to kiss them right there and then.

Before he worked out if he wanted to smile back, look away or do anything other than act like a rabbit caught in headlights, Yann suddenly called out to the boy from the other side of the room.

“Scorpius! Good to see you mate. Meant to say hi the other week, but didn’t want to interrupt you. How’s it going?”

Albus turned to stare at Yann, gobsmacked. Yann knew this boy? Did that mean Yann had known what Albus was looking at, when he’d referred to him paying too much attention to ‘the other rink’ last week? Did Yann suspect how he felt as well? Oh god, if this boy and Yann were friends, Albus was never going to hear the end of it. 

“Hey, Yann,” the other boy - Scorpius - said easily, smiling at Albus’s team captain. “No worries. Everything’s good, how are you?”

“Not bad mate, not bad. Got the finals in just over a month so working flat out right now. You training for owt in particular?”

“Yeah, the national championships” Scorpius answered, and Albus didn’t know why, but even though the smile on the boys face was still there, it had disappeared from his voice. He sounded… not angry as such, but resigned. Fed up.

Yann whistled, clearly not detecting anything strange about what Scorpius had said. “Nice one mate, hope it all goes well. If not, my offer’s still open - you should pick up a stick and leave the sequins at home, we’d be glad to have you.”

“Thanks, I’ll bear that in mind if I ever want to join the dark side,” said Scorpius, joking back with good grace - although the weird tone was still lurking underneath his words.

Scorpius hadn’t exactly sounded annoyed at Yann, so it might just have been nerves, Albus thought. The national championships sound pretty major. Though, if Scorpius skated like he had been at practice, he definitely shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

Hurrying with his trainers and hoody, Albus made sure he left at the same time as Yann and fell into step with his captain as they walked up the stairs to head home. He didn’t know what was driving this particular compulsion to know more, especially as it meant he was likely walking right into a trap of his own making. If Yann hadn’t already realised that Albus had a stupid crush on his friend, he would do in about ten seconds.

“Who was that, in the changing rooms? The blond one?” Albus asked, cursing his own voice as it came out far less casual than he’d hoped. Yann would definitely see straight through him.

Yann did. Smirking, he looked down at Albus. “Oh, you mean Scorpius? The one you were ogling at last weekend too?” 

Albus blushed.

“He’s in my form at college. New kid, moved up here a few months back. Damn good skater, we could have used someone like him on the team if he wasn’t so into his dancing.”

Albus nodded. “Yeah, he looks really good. I mean his skating! His skating looks really good.”

Damn. He was making things even worse.

Yann just laughed. “Oh wow, Albus. You really have got it bad. Though, I can’t deny he’s not pretty. Maybe hang around after practice next week, bump into him accidentally - be his groupie or something.”

Albus scowled, but he knew Yann’s teasing was meant well. He got on with all of his teammates, but Yann and Karl and Craig had been there the longest, and had known Albus since he joined. They weren’t friends, exactly, outside of practice, but they always had each other’s backs.

“Shut up,” Albus offered, but his heart wasn’t in the rebuke. He blushed again. “Wouldn’t that be weird? And kind of stalkery?”

“Nah. Faint heart never won fair lady,” said Yann, sniggering at the expression on Albus’s face and speeding up so he was just out of Albus’s reach. “Just make up an excuse and see where next Sunday gets you!”

As much as Albus hated to take love advice from Yann Fredericks, who as far as he knew hadn’t had a steady partner in all the years Albus had known him, a little part of him was curious to see if Yann’s plan could work. He certainly couldn’t see any other way of introducing himself to Scorpius, seeing as he and Yann went to a different college to Albus. 

Maybe he would hang back next Sunday, pretend his shoelace snapped or something. He had to try, or he’d never have any peace - from Yann, Karl or his own mind.

\----------

The following weekend, Albus took his time getting showered and changed, choosing to neatly fold up his training gear and properly clean and polish his blades before packing everything away. Coach would be proud. 

His teammates then cleared out one by one, Yann throwing a full-sized smirk in Albus’s direction as he left. All too soon Albus was alone, rethinking his decision and quickly running out of reasons to stay.

In desperation, Albus decided to try and dry his hair instead of just letting it flop all over his face for once, and had his head firmly entangled in his towel when he heard the changing room door open. Cursing his timing, he pulled the towel away, realising his face would now be bright red and his already quite messy hair would probably resemble a birds nest even more than usual. Great.

He blinked, noticing that Scorpius was heading directly towards him, and attempted a friendly, not-at-all manic smile that definitely wouldn’t make Scorpius think he was being stalked. To his surprise, Scorpius was already smiling back, although it didn’t quite meet his eyes. Albus actually thought he looked a bit tired, though he supposed Scorpius had just spent a million hours doing a gruelling looking routine a billion times over.

Realising he’d completely frozen in place, Albus looked away in embarrassment, willing himself to say something. Anything.

His mind remained unhelpfully blank, but after a few seconds which felt like an eternity, Scorpius broke the silence himself.

“Hey. I’m saw - sorry, I’m Scorpius. I saw you watching, before. You’re on the hockey team, right?”

Albus flushed at Scorpius’s words, realising that not only had Karl and Yann caught him staring two weeks ago, Scorpius had too. How mortifying. Forget coming across as cool and casual - he wanted nothing more than to curl up on the spot where he was, and let the earth swallow him whole. 

“Uh, yeah - I mean, no, I was just - I thought - you were, like, really good. And I’m Albus, by the way. And yeah, I play for the Steelers. The Juniors. With Yann. We just had practice.” 

Albus wanted to hit himself on the head. Of course he’d just had practice. Why else would he be here?

But Scorpius just smiled again, properly this time, seemingly finding nothing weird or embarrassing about what Albus had just said.

“That’s great! I guess you live locally, then? We’ve just moved here, me and my dad, so this is the closest rink - I saw all the stuff about the Steelers in the entrance upstairs, but I don’t really know much about hockey. How long have you been playing?”

Scorpius said all of this quite fast, and Albus felt a bit blindsided by the attention - even though he’d hung around on purpose specifically to run into the other boy, he hadn’t actually expected to find himself in a proper conversation with Scorpius beyond a quick ‘hey’; and now he was in one he didn’t quite know what to do with it. 

Pulling himself together, he attempted to answer normally, willing himself to stop blushing. 

“Yeah, I’ve lived here all my life - well, in Barnsley anyway, that’s just down the road - and I’ve been in the team since I was thirteen. My brother was in it too, but he’s too old now. Our Dad used to play as well, big hockey family - I’m the left defence.” 

Realising Scorpius probably didn’t know what that meant, he went on to explain, but Scorpius started speaking at the same time.

“Barnsley? That’s cool, me too. We’re in Cawthorne - whereabouts -”

“Left defence is the person who tries to prevent the other team getting hold of the puck, that’s what we use instead of balls -”

“Sorry, you go -”

“No sorry, you -”

They both shut up, leaving a silence that should have been awkward, but which Scorpius filled with another of his brilliant, real smiles.

“You know, I might only be a lowly figure skater, but given how much of my life I spend on ice, I know what a puck is,” he laughed, his tone teasing.

Albus felt his blush rise again with vigour. He was making such an ass of this.

“Sorry, of course - yeah - so, Cawthorne? That’s kind of near me, I’m from Royston,” he said, desperately trying to claw back some modicum of control of the situation.

“Oh, neighbours!” Scorpius said, doing the cutest little thumbs up Albus had ever seen. 

“Err, yeah I guess,” Albus laughed, enjoying Scorpius’s reaction too much to bother explaining that Royston was still a good 15 minute drive away from Cawthorne, or that comparing the two was a bit like comparing Buckingham Palace to a bungalow. Not that there was anything wrong with bungalows - Albus was fiercely proud of his little village, and his heritage - but the last time they’d driven through Cawthorne, James had accurately commented that they could have happily fit their entire house in one of the many double garages on display, with room to spare.

“So when do you train? You didn’t always come here on a Sunday, right? It’s just been me in the whole place up until a few weekends ago,” Scorpius said as he turned away towards his locker. Albus did his best to focus on his answer and not Scorpius’s bum, once again clad in some extremely tight training leggings.

“Well, we’re usually in from 2 til 4 on Sundays, but then we changed it up so we could have a bit more time. No one uses the left rink until midday on weekends, so now we get in at 8 to have a proper session. We have a big game next month - the Junior League finals - and we’re in the running for third place. It’d be our first trophy in like, a decade, and a few of us have to leave the team next year as we’re gonna be 18, so it’s our one and only chance to win something.”

Scorpius nodded along, looking impressed.

“Wow, that’s cool. And I’m glad you moved your practice, it’s really nice to have some company at last - it can get pretty spooky in here when it’s just me and my dad!”

“You dad comes to watch? That’s sweet.” Albus replied, trying to remember if he’d seen anyone who looked like Scorpius hanging around.

“Not exactly,” Scorpius said, and suddenly that weird tone was back in his voice. “He’s my coach. Mum used to train me, but then… well, dad does it now. He’s really good, he used to skate himself actually. Both of them did.”

Albus noticed Scorpius’s repeated use of the past tense, but didn’t want to pry. Besides, he could just as easily mean that his parents had retired from skating, and that his mum was at home now, or at work. Just because she wasn’t Scorpius’s coach anymore didn’t necessarily mean anything bad had happened.

All the same, Albus could tell there was something bothering Scorpius, and the strong indications so far were that it had something to do with either his mum or his dad, or both - but as curious as Albus was, it was definitely too soon and too inappropriate to poke further.

Settling on what he hoped was a neutral reply, Albus watched out of the corner of his eye as Scorpius started unzipping his lycra training leotard.

“I bet he’s proud of you. Your dad, I mean. You look good. I mean you WERE good. At the skating. You’re really good at skating.” 

Albus was going to murder his vocal cords when he got them alone.This was even worse than his slip up in front of Yann, because the top half of Scorpius’s leotard was now hanging from his waist, leaving his chest and back completely exposed. And he did look good. Scorpius was thin but incredibly toned, and his skin was pale and creamy without a single blemish.

Luckily Scorpius just laughed, even though it wasn’t quite as relaxed a laugh as Albus would have hoped for.

“Thanks. That’s really nice to hear. I’ve been skating since I was six, so I guess it’s kind of my whole life.”

Scorpius’s voice was also tighter than it was before, but he didn’t sound annoyed or creeped out by Albus himself, and Albus had believed Scorpius when he thanked him for the compliment.

Although he’d just promised himself not to pry, Albus couldn’t help himself. Hearing that Scorpius was basically a lifelong professional explained a lot about his abilities, but nothing about why Scorpius seemed to dim whenever he talked about skating, or training, or his parents. Albus loved hockey, and he and James and his dad could and did wax lyrical about the game for hours. From the little Albus had read about figure skating over the past few weeks, he was aware it was also a very competitive sport full of dedicated and obsessive dancers - but for all that Scorpius was clearly incredible at it, he didn’t seem to light up or have that spark when he mentioned it, like Albus would have expected from someone with his talent and history. 

Albus had to know more, and he figured starting with innocuous-seeming questions was probably the best way to interrogate someone he’d only just met.

“That’s so cool, that you’ve done it for so long. Do you also do, like, partner stuff? Or do you only skate on your own?”

“Mostly on my own to be honest.” Scorpius answered, finally sitting down to pull off his skates. “I have done pairs, but I don’t like it as much - when you’re the guy, they make you do all the holds and the lifts and things like that. If I’m gonna skate, I at least want to be the one doing the interesting stuff. The whole thing is still a bit sexist really in that respect, although I guess it’s getting slightly better.”

Albus nodded. That was interesting - he wouldn’t have thought about it like that. And the way Scorpius had said “if I’m gonna skate”, as if it wasn’t fully his choice to do so, hadn’t escaped his attention either.

“Well, er, I think your stuff looks amazing. I actually saw you do this twisty thing the other evening too, and -”

“Oh!” said Scorpius, surprised. “Yeah, I did an evening session a few weeks ago after college. I usually stick to mornings, but I had a test that day and wanted to revise beforehand.”

That explained why Albus had only seen him again on Sundays, then.

“That makes sense. We always train after school - three days a week, Monday Wednesday and Friday - and then Sunday afternoons. Well, Sunday mornings now.”

“So, I guess I’ll see you on Sunday mornings then,” said Scorpius, his voice sounding much lighter again as he pulled off his leggings and picked up his towel and toiletry bag. “I get here around half seven, and just stay until Dad thinks we’re done. You’re also welcome to watch me again, if you want. It makes me concentrate better knowing someone else is paying attention.”

Albus gulped. He was trying so hard to not look down at Scorpius in just his pants, and he didn’t really trust his mouth to say anything out loud.

“Err… yeah. Definitely,” he attempted, clearing his throat. “That’d be… yeah. Good. And you can watch our practice too, if you want. I mean, you’re clearly way too busy, never mind -” 

Albus rapidly tried to repair the damage as soon as his brain caught up with his mouth. Scorpius might be able to concentrate better when other people were watching, but Albus knew that if he was aware of Scorpius watching him, he would be utterly useless and probably dissolve into a puddle right there and then in the middle of practice.

“Maybe I will, actually,” said Scorpius, catching Albus’s eye with a cheeky wink and directing what Albus had come to think of as his ‘real’ smile at him. “Though god knows what good that would do me, when all you guys do is lump around the ice like monkeys fighting over a banana. At least you’d get inspiration from watching me, effortlessly putting you all to shame with my natural grace.”

Albus immediately blushed at seeing Scorpius wink, but he loved that Scorpius was bantering with him. He was even willing to accept the dig at hockey, given that it meant Scorpius already felt comfortable enough around him to make it. Albus had a habit of keeping people his own age at arm's length, and whilst he’d always got on with his teammates and classmates well enough, there’d never really been anyone in his life who he seemed to click with as quickly as he had done with Scorpius. There’d also been no one he wanted to click with as much as Scorpius.

Scorpius headed to the showers still grinning, and as soon as he was out of sight, Albus let out a huge sigh. That definitely hadn’t gone as badly as it could have done - they’d spoken for a lot longer than Albus had anticipated, and got on a lot better than he could have hoped - but if Albus had managed to kid himself that he wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about Scorpius before meeting him, he was certainly left with no doubt now.

Swinging his kit over his shoulder, he groaned. He was utterly, absolutely, one hundred percent, totally and irrevocably, fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, if any of you are curious about seeing the places I talk about in this fic, they're all real - Cawthorne and Royston are two small villages in Barnsley, and both have lots of merits and happy memories for me :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Scorpius's texts are in italics and Albus's are in bold - just in case it's not 100% clear!

“Heyyyy, Al.”

Albus bit back a swear, hearing Karl’s footsteps hurry to catch up with him. It was the following weekend and he was walking across the carpark to Sunday practice, lugging his gear behind him and trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach at the thought of seeing Scorpius again. He couldn’t deal with Karl right now.

“Soooo. I had a verrrrrry interesting chat with Yann at the pub on Friday night. He told me a certain someone, naming no names, likes to hang around after Sunday practice. Stalking” - Albus glared at his teammate - “Sorrrrry, talking to that skater dude. Know anything about that?”

Albus stayed silent. He was going to kill Yann.

“Awww, Al. Don’t be all moody, you know we just want the best for you! And if you don’t come to pub night, you can’t defend yourself. So, the forfeit is…. you have to tell me what happened. Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!” Karl started poking Albus as he spoke.

“Ow! Gerroff me, you nutter! Fine. I did talk to him, OK? Happy?”

Karl’s face broke into a grin. “Alby, my boy! So what’s the downlow? Are you two boyfriends now?”

“Karl!!” Albus hissed, looking around in alarm, although he remembered Scorpius saying he always showed up a little bit earlier than them anyway. “We are not boyfriends. Why would we be boyfriends? We’ve barely even met. We had like, a five minute conversation in the changing room. I don’t even know if he likes boys that way.”

“But you like him,” Karl teased, making his eyes go all fluttery and bringing his hands up to his chin. “Don’t lie to me Albus Potter, I know you like him. Your face is an open book.”

Cursing his blushes for the millionth time, Albus ducked his head so Karl wouldn’t make fun of the new one he could feel creeping up his neck.

“HA! Told you so. Albus is in loooove, Albus is in loooove -”

“Karl, I swear I will end you if you don’t shut up right this second.” Albus stopped dead, glaring up at Karl, who immediately dissolved into laughter at Albus’s expression - though thankfully, this did mean he had to give up on his ridiculous chant.

“Aww, Albus, I’m only messing. It’s cute. This is how, like, couples meet in movies. Locking eyes across a crowded coffee shop - or, in your case, an empty smelly sweaty changing room -”

“Yeah, except me and Scorpius aren’t a couple, and we aren’t going to be a couple, let alone a movie star couple, so if you could just SHUT -”

“Oh my god, Scorpius sounds epic next to Albus. Like you’re characters in some kind of fantasy novel or something. Scorpius and Albus, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N -”

Albus finally punched Karl on the arm, forcing the other boy to stagger up the steps.

“OK, oKAY. I geddit. No more Scorp talk. Ha! Scorp. D’you reckon his friends call him Scorp? Or Scorpy? Want me to ask Yann for you?”

Albus just shook his head as he reached the top of the steps, desperately trying to drown out Karl’s voice. He didn’t want to be having this conversation. More pressingly, he didn’t want to think about Scorpius having a cutesy nickname. He was already struggling to keep a full blown crush at bay, and something like “Scorpy” had the power to send him over the edge.

\----------

Miraculously, Albus managed to get through another training session without once letting on how distracted he was - or could have been, if he’d given in to it. He wasn’t sure where this sudden self-control had come from, but something about being in the middle of a group of frenzied hockey players for three hours straight had made Albus’s brain switch into frenzied hockey player mode himself, and the thought of the cup match now being less than three weeks away was admittedly starting to panic him a bit. 

Albus knew the team was ready, and knew this was the strongest they’d been in years; but he also knew that this could be the first and only chance of winning a trophy in his whole hockey career. Albus turned 18 in a few months, and in order to qualify for the nationals, every player in a team had to be underage at the time of the final. The only other way Albus would have another shot at a podium was if he was recruited to the Senior team, but as irony would have it, the best chance he’d have of achieving that would be to win this match in the first place.

Pulling off his helmet and wiping his brow, Albus hung back behind the others, intending to see if Scorpius was still practicing - he’d been there when Albus had arrived that morning, looking even more amazing than usual in a black one piece that Albus had really had to force himself not to think about - but before he even got off the ice, he spotted a Scorpius shaped hand waving at him from the stands.

“Scorpius!” said Albus in surprise, as he reached the side of the rink. “I never noticed you there!”

“Ha! I decided to take you up on your offer. Though my judgement remains - you all really do look like baboons. Sound like them too.”

Scorpius was grinning, and Albus’s stomach flipped over. He was really glad he hadn’t spotted Scorpius any earlier, as his newfound self-control certainly wouldn’t have extended that far. Scorpius really would have had something to tease him about then.

“We can’t all be… gazelles, some of us actually have to work hard rather than just stand there looking pretty,” he responded, trying to sound snotty and hide how much it mattered that Scorpius had come to watch him - until his ears caught up with his mouth.

Oh god. 

Albus had just called Scorpius pretty. Out loud. To his face.

One day, he might have a conversation with this boy in which he didn’t want to disappear on the spot and wipe Scorpius’s memory at the same time.

Thankfully, Scorpius glossed over Albus’s awkward attempt at wildlife banter and continued as if Albus hadn’t just admitted to finding Scorpius pretty.

“I’m kidding, hockey does actually look quite fun. Don’t tell Yann though - he’d drag me across the ice to join you, and if I injured myself now, Dad would kill me. I’d bring shame on the Malfoy name.” Scorpius spoke lightly enough and laughed, but it was his weird laugh, and Albus’s curiosity once again reared its head.

Whatever it was that was going on with Scorpius, Albus hadn’t yet got the impression that the other boy actively disliked his father. If anything, he sounded sad and anxious whenever his dad or skating came up in conversation, rather than bitter or angry as Albus would have expected if they’d fallen out or if his dad was being controlling or forcing Scorpius into doing (or not doing) something. Maybe something had happened to him? Or to both of them? Before the move? Because of the move? Or maybe it was something to do with Scorpius’s mum? Albus filed his thoughts away to peruse later - because whatever it was, it was still far too soon in their acquaintanceship to pry.

“So you’re Scorpius Malfoy then?” he said instead, trying to change the subject. “That’s… actually a really cool name.”

“Yep.” Scorpius rolled his eyes, but it was with affection. “Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, if you want the full shebang. My mum was… she loved astronomy. Stars, constellations, all that kinda stuff. She got lucky finding a Draco - that’s my Dad - and decided to carry on the theme with me.”

“That’s awesome,” Albus said, and genuinely meant it. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. As if this boy could be any cooler. “I’ve never met anyone else with an unusual name before. I’m Albus Severus Potter, but I have absolutely no idea what my parents were thinking,” he added, wanting to share something back.

“Albus Severus! Wow, that’s cute. And a lot of ‘us’ sounds. AlbUS. SeverUS. Oh! And ScorpiUS. We’re like a club. The Us Club.”

Albus blushed fiercely and was rendered temporarily speechless. The Us Club? Was Scorpius actually trying to kill him? Albus wanted nothing more than to be in a club with this boy, a very exclusive club that involved them and only them and no one else at all, especially - 

“ALLLLLBUSSSSSS!” Karl’s voice interrupted Albus’s very charming thoughts on ‘The Us Club’ and he spun around on the spot, murderous thoughts pinging over the ice like lasers.

“ALBUS! James is here, and he says, and I quote, “tell my little bugger of a brother that if he doesn’t get out here in five minutes flat, I’m leaving without him and he can get the train home for all I give a shit’.”

Albus’s blush intensified and he glared at Karl, knowing his teammate would be taking great delight in having an excuse to interrupt Albus’s current conversation. Apparently it wasn’t enough that Karl had already embarrassed him, now James was here and would inevitably give him grief too. And why was James here?! His Dad was supposed to be on taxi duty this week!

Grimacing at Karl to show he’d got the message loud and clear, Albus turned back to Scorpius.

“Ugh. I’m so sorry. Turns out my dickhead brother’s here and he has zero patience, so -”

“No problem,” Scorpius said easily, “Dad wants to go out for lunch today anyway. He went on ahead to get us a table somewhere. You go get changed whilst I’ll text him and find out where he is, and then we can walk out together.”

Albus blinked. Scorpius wanted to wait for him, and walk out together? That was what, like, actual friends did. Were they actual friends now? It definitely felt like Scorpius wanted to be, if he was prepared to hang about waiting. Otherwise he’d just head off right now with a ‘see you around’, wouldn’t he? 

Albus was a master overthinker, and so before his brain could really go into overdrive he forced himself to agree and hurried off to the changing room to have the quickest shower of his life. 

He wouldn’t really mind getting the train home, but he could do without owing a pissed-off James a favour, and he was desperate to see exactly why Scorpius wanted to wait for him - surely if he’d just planned to say goodbye, he’d have done that in the stands?

\----------

Four minutes and thirty five seconds later, Albus launched himself back out of the changing rooms to find Scorpius standing right outside, waiting for him. As promised. 

Albus hadn’t had the chance to get a proper look at the other boy whilst Scorpius had been sat down, but now he noticed that Scorpius was wearing a pair of soft and very expensive looking dark grey jeans, and a dark green fitted shirt. He really suited the colours and the style, and Albus felt like a right scruff next to him in black joggers and one of James’s old Steelers hoodies.

Scorpius looked up at the sound of Albus approaching, and his face split into a genuine smile again. 

“So, I was thinking, do you want to take my number? It’s totally OK if you don’t, no pressure, it’s just… I haven’t really made any proper friends around here yet, and you seem cool, and I thought… we could perhaps hang out? Not here? When we have longer than five minutes to spare?”

Albus’s heart lodged itself somewhere in the region of his tonsils, and he almost choked. 

Scorpius wanted to give him his number. Scorpius wanted to give Albus his phone number. His mobile phone number. That he could be contacted on. That Albus could contact him on. Whatever he’d expected Scorpius to say as he was rushing to get ready, it wasn’t that. Things like that just did not happen to boys like Albus Potter - and fine, he knew Scorpius wasn’t offering his number in a date way, he made that pretty clear when he mentioned wanting a friend - but still. 

Albus’s brain was still choosing between answering and having a panic attack when Scorpius’s face dropped, and Albus’s stomach turned over. Shit. He’d waited too long before responding, and Scorpius obviously thought - 

“Look, it’s cool, probably a stupid idea, sorry -”

“No! Yes! I mean, yes, I’d love to swap numbers. Sorry, brain’s a bit mashed today,” Albus gabbled, frantically hunting around his pockets for his phone. “Here we go! Right, you tell me yours, and then I’ll ring you -”

“Great!” Scorpius’s smile was back, and he recited his number with a cute little melodious jingle that made Albus’s want to kiss him again. Punching the digits in, Albus hit call, then grinned when he saw his number flash up on the screen Scorpius was holding. 

“Now we have each others’ numbers. Text anytime, I’m not exactly a busy person except for hockey. And college. But I can pretty much text at college, no one cares.”

Damn. Did that make him look too keen? Oh god, it did. They’d literally only just swapped numbers and Albus bet Scorpius was already regretting it.

“Cool, me too! I mean, it’s just me and Dad at home, so I get kinda bored when I’m not here or at college. Can I text you this afternoon, when we get back from lunch?”

OK, phew, Albus hadn’t blown it. Scorpius even wanted to text today!

“Awesome, yeah.” Albus’s voice was gruff as he attempted to not let on how excited he was. “That’d be great.” A honking sound from outside made them both jump, and Albus blushed again.

“Er, sorry but I definitely better go now, before James comes in here and decapitates me or something - speak to you later?”

“Definitely!” Scorpius gave him a little wave as they split up outside the entrance, Albus heading for the source of the honk. 

He knew he was still bright red, but he didn’t care who saw, and he didn’t care how annoyed James might be. He had Scorpius’s number, and Scorpius wanted to be friends. Maybe Albus would go to Friday pub one day - he owed Yann a pint, or five.

\----------

_Hey! It’s Scorpius. How are you?_

**hey, i know it’s you - you gave me your number too remember?**

_Ha! Of course. Sorry. What are you up to??_

**just finishing off some homework, bored lol. how was lunch with your dad?**

_Nice actually. We just went to Wagamama, at the Valley Centertainment place right next to the rink? Dad ordered something ridiculously spicy and was too shy to change it so ended up crying into his noodles. It was hilarious!_

Albus laughed, noting the ‘actually’ but also the sweet and open way Scorpius joked about his dad. He was so desperate to know what was going on there, but although they were now apparently friends, he still couldn’t work out what to ask. Or how to ask. Or when to ask.

**oh cool yeah we go there all the time, it has better places to eat than in town. lol @ your dad. is he ok now?**

_Yeah, the waiter took pity on him and brought him about six glasses of water. He left a massive tip, I think he was embarrassed at causing a scene._

**haha glad he’s alright. I’m sure they get that all the time.**

_Probably. Really wish you’d have been there to see it, he was literally crying at one point. I felt bad laughing._

Albus looked up from his phone, his heart skipping a beat. 

Scorpius ‘really wished’ Albus had been there. At lunch. In a restaurant. With his dad. Was that a thing that friends did, or wanted to do? Albus couldn’t imagine asking one of his classmates or teammates to come out for dinner with his Dad, or saying he wished they had. A boyfriend, however…

No. Scorpius didn’t mean anything by it. Albus was definitely reaching.

**lol me too, mum’s not done the food shop yet this week so we just had toasties for lunch. james burnt mine on purpose cos he was annoyed at having to come get me. would kill for a wagamamas.**

_We can go together, if you want? Another day?_

Albus’s heart jumped again as Scorpius’s text came through. Was Scorpius asking him on a date? Surely not. Albus was just seeing into it all too much. Scorpius obviously just wanted to go grab some food, at a place he’d enjoyed, with a mate. Nothing odd or meaningful about that.

**sure.**

Albus knew his reply was too short, but he didn’t know what else to add without revealing too much of his intrigue and confusion over their plans to meet. He didn’t expect Scorpius to text back again, assuming that they’d just sort it out sometime in the future, but just as Albus was about to put his phone down it buzzed again.

_What about Tuesday? After college? You don’t practice then right?_

Tuesday. This Tuesday? Scorpius wanted to go out for dinner on Tuesday? That was two days away! Actually one day, if you counted the fact it was already nearly tea time, and took away the hours they’d spend sleeping. Albus’s hands were trembling as he texted back.

**tuesday works. i finish at 3, wbu?**

_Cool, I’m done at 12, I have a half day. I was thinking of going to the library for the afternoon so how about I meet you at the train station at 3.30ish and we can go into Sheffield together? Unless you’d be getting a lift?_

Albus couldn’t believe that after less than 10 minutes of texting, they were arranging an actual trip. Out. To meet up. In real life. Not for any reason other than to spend time together. He knew that Scorpius had suggested doing exactly this back at the rink, but Albus was still pleasantly surprised at how quickly their friendship seemed to be moving. It wasn’t something he was used to; he usually needed much more time to warm up to people, but then again, Scorpius wasn’t just ‘people’.

Forcing himself not to let on how excited he was, Albus replied.

**sounds good to me. meet you on the platform at 330 :)**

Usually, Albus did try to cajole either his Dad or James into giving him a lift whenever he went into Sheffield, as the trains took SO long even though it was only 15 miles - but if Scorpius was getting the train, then Albus wanted to get the train too.

He already had butterflies in his stomach, but when Scorpius’s reply arrived, they changed into fully grown birds and swarmed right up into his throat.

_I’m looking forward to it already! :D_

Albus couldn’t help it - he grinned. Even if Scorpius was only speaking in an entirely platonic way, and again, Albus had zero reason to think that he wasn’t, the knowledge that Scorpius was genuinely excited to see him (in just two days!) made him feel like he could take on the world.

\----------

By the time Tuesday arrived, Albus literally couldn’t concentrate on anything else. He was finding it hard to keep a neutral expression on his face; and James had already noticed over breakfast and demanded to know “why you’re so cheerful on a goddamn Tuesday morning anyway”. 

Thankfully, Albus had been saved from answering by Lily, who for some reason only fathomable to her had flounced into the kitchen in what could only be described as a fairy princess fancy dress outfit, and was being chewed out by their mum for deciding to wear it to school. 

Although she was still only fourteen, Lily made most of her own clothes, and seemed to think that the crazier and more theatrical they were, the better. Albus quietly agreed and admired Lily’s confidence, and it was obvious she had a real talent for the craft - but as their parents tried to patiently explain over and over again, Royston High just wasn’t ready for someone who wore fairy wings unironically outside of panto season. Lily had been ordered home on a warning more times than she could count for uniform transgressions, and Harry and Ginny had been sent enough letters about her to paper the front of their fridge five times over.

Whilst James, Lily, Harry and Ginny got into a familiar sounding family debate about Lily’s fashion sense (James backed Lily up by default, not because he particularly liked her crazy outfits but because he seemed to think the more chaos Lily caused, the more respect she deserved), Albus stuffed the remainder of his toast into his mouth and snatched his backpack up, mumbling that he “wouldn’t need tea and might be home late today” before fleeing the Potter residence. He thanked his lucky stars that nobody had been paying attention or asked him where he was going, because he knew he would have made his plans sound like a date, and he really needed to stop thinking of this afternoon like a date, because it absolutely categorically was not a date. 

_Not a date._

Albus hadn’t had a proper crush for years, and he had forgotten that the best bits were also the worst bits when your crush didn’t like you back. Or, in his case, when your crush was probably straight and just wanted to be friends. 

Albus knew that even if today was really good and fun and Scorpius wanted to hang out again, it still wouldn’t necessarily mean what his heart wanted it to mean, and he’d very likely have to think of a way of dealing with that, or throw away their kindling friendship before it even really began. 

He knew without a doubt that he’d keep Scorpius around in any capacity, if Scorpius wanted to be kept around, because hanging out as friends would be better than nothing, but he also knew he’d have to work on his poker face and he’d have to get over this silly crush. It wouldn’t be fair on Scorpius to harbour feelings and make things weird, when Scorpius hadn’t done anything to invite Albus’s affections in that way. Except for being a really beautiful, funny and kind human. 

Three o’clock that day seemed to take a millennium to arrive, but as soon as his final class was over, Albus shoved his notes and textbooks in his bag haphazardly and almost ran to the bus stop outside the college. It shouldn’t take him more than 10 minutes to get into town and meet Scorpius, and the buses were pretty frequent, so he wasn’t worried about being late. 

He was still feeling a lot of feelings not usually associated with grabbing food with a mate, but he had a whole half hour to get himself together and practice acting normal. Two five minute conversations with Scorpius were one thing, but a whole afternoon? Over a meal? Albus tried not to panic. He was starting to wish they’d chosen something like the cinema for their first real ‘outing’, as at least that involved a few hours of sitting silently, with no pressure to speak to or even look at the person you were with. 

Although, a cinema would also have involved a very dark room and very comfy chairs, which Albus was doing his best not to think about.

As the bus pulled up at his stop, Albus gave himself a shake and got on, flinging himself down into a seat near the front. Shoving his headphones on, he focused on slowing down his breathing and staring out of the window as he was driven closer and closer to where Scorpius was waiting.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the chapter that I probably enjoyed writing the most! It's got a few ~heavier~ themes in, but is overall super sweet and super wholesome and ABSOLUTELY NOT A DATE... (yeah OK Albus)

Although Albus was visibly calmer as he made his way into the train station, he had to work really hard not to stare in a very non-platonic way when he caught sight of his friend. 

Scorpius’s blond hair looked freshly washed and was falling into his face in soft yellow waves, and he had on a really tight pair of black jeans that made his bum look incredible. A silvery coloured shirt collar was poking out from a black denim jacket, and he somehow managed to look incredibly smart and perfectly casual all at the same time, not to mention whilst somehow pulling off double denim. 

Albus had thought he hadn’t done a bad job with his own clothes today - a black and grey striped hoody, loose jeans and his favourite battered converse - but compared to Scorpius’s shiny black Doc Martens, his trainers looked more unloved than well-loved. 

“Scorpius, hey.” Albus said as he reached where Scorpius was standing, thanking the universe he hadn’t started blushing yet. “Do you already have a ticket?”

“Albus, hi! Sorry, yes, I got here a bit early so I’ve already bought mine - I’ll come with you to get yours though. How are you? Have you had a nice day?”

Albus grinned as they fell in step and headed towards the ticket machine. He loved how Scorpius never just said one thing when five would do.

“Yeah, it’s been alright thanks. How was yours? Did you go to the library?”

“I did! I love it in there, that cafe is amazing and it’s always so empty in the week. They do student discount, did you know? I got a frappucino AND a bakewell tart for £2.50!”

Albus laughed at how happy Scorpius seemed to be with his sugar laden bargain. “I don’t really go in much to be honest, I like doing my work at home where I can watch TV or something at the same time. The cakes are really good though, we used to beg Mum for them as kids when we went to Reading Group.”

“How many siblings have you got? I know you mentioned your brother - Jake, was it?”

“James. He’s older than me, by two years. He’s training to be a physio and works at Chennels most nights. Then there’s Lily, my little sister. She’s fourteen. She’s in high school, obviously, but she’s got about a million hobbies and wants to make costumes for theatre shows when she’s older.”

“Wow, that’s awesome. What about you? What do you get up to except from hockey? What are you studying?”

Scorpius sounded genuinely interested, and the questions weren’t annoying coming from him, as opposed to when his Auntie Hermione grilled him about his future career choices.

“Err, well hockey takes up a lot of time really, so I mainly just do that. I used to play guitar, but I gave it up before I got any good. I don’t really know what I want to do as a proper job, hockey is kind of maybe an option if I ever get scouted for Seniors, but I’m taking English and Biology and History at college to keep my options open.”

Scorpius nodded. “That sounds sensible. I’m the same with skating - it’s kind of everything to my Dad, so when we’re not actually at the rink we’re probably thinking about it or planning for it. Dad expects me to carry on and go professional full time, like he and Mum did, but… I really like school too. And I keep thinking Uni might be a good experience? But I don’t know what I’d go for. I do Maths, Geography and French right now. Maths is probably my favourite, but I can already sort of speak fluent French so I’m cheating a bit there.”

Albus’s eyes widened. Pulling out his wallet to find coins for his ticket, he shot an impressed glance in Scorpius’s direction. “Fluent French? Wow, that’s… really cool. Do you go to France a lot then or something?”

“Yeah. Well actually not too much now, we went more when I was younger, but we still try and visit once a year. Dad’s parents live there, and Mum used to really love the garden at the place they have….”

Scorpius trailed off, looking down at the ground and blinking rapidly. Albus quickly paid for his ticket and moved away from the machine, cursing himself for upsetting Scorpius. He’d begun to suspect what might have happened to Scorpius’s mum.

“Scorpius… are you OK? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to -”

“No, no, it’s fine, I’m being silly.” Scorpius sniffed, pulling a tissue out of his pocket and wiping his eyes. “Sorry. It’s just, Mum died a few years ago. Cancer. She’d had it for years, for as long as I can remember really, and it sort of came and went. Every time she’d get treatment, and be OK for a few years, and then it’d pop up somewhere else and we’d go through the whole thing again. Until it got in her blood. The doctors couldn’t really do anything about it then.”

“God, Scorpius. Shit. That’s so shit. I’m so sorry.” Albus’s heart hurt, and he couldn’t imagine going through what Scorpius had coped with.

“Thanks. It was. Shit, that is. I mean, I’ve still got Dad, and I know I’m lucky that we’re so close and he’s so involved and stuff, but… Mum was awesome too.”

Albus heard the train before he saw it, and was absolved of saying anything back straight away until they’d both got on and found a seat - Albus carefully and subtly steering Scorpius away from the busiest end of the carriage to a table where they had less chance of being overheard. He felt so bad that a safe conversation about school had turned into Scorpius crying about his dead mum within five minutes of them meeting. He’d really fucked up. Why would Scorpius ever want to hang out with him again if this was his conversational talent?

“Look, Scorpius, I’m really sorry I dragged up all that… I’m such an idiot, I didn’t -”

“Albus, no, honestly, it wasn’t you!” Scorpius turned in his seat so he was facing Albus, his hazel eyes shining. “I mean it. It’s me. Sometimes I’m OK with talking about her, and then sometimes… it comes out of nowhere. My therapist said it would, and that that’s OK. And it is OK. But I’m really sorry if I made it awkward or made you feel bad.”

Albus couldn’t help but believe Scorpius’s earnest words and gaze, although he still felt bad for making Scorpius cry. He wasn’t used to people crying around him, he didn’t really have any friends who were close enough to let that side of them out, and he didn’t think he’d seen James cry since he was nine and broke his arm falling out of a tree at Cannon Hall.

“No, you didn’t make it awkward. Honest. Shall we just… start again? Change the subject?” Albus desperately hoped he could get the conversation back on an emotional plane he could cope with, because if this was where they’d got to after five minutes, he was worried he might trigger a full blown meltdown by the time they arrived at the restaurant.

Luckily, Scorpius smiled and sat up straight, still facing Albus. “Of course! Hi, Albus. Funny seeing you here. Where are you off to?”

Albus grinned back, relieved and a little in awe of Scorpius’s apparent ability to go from 0-100 on demand in any given situation. 

“Hi, Scorpius. And I know right? Are you by any chance heading to Sheffield to eat your body weight in udon noodles?”

“Wow, how serendipitous! I think I might be. Shall we go together?” 

They both laughed, and from then on the ice was well and truly broken. The rest of the journey passed in a total blur of joking and chatting, and before Albus knew it the train was pulling up outside Meadowhall Interchange. 

“This is us - it’s just a short walk from here, or we can get the tram if you want?” he asked Scorpius, happy to do either.

“Let’s walk.” said Scorpius decisively. “I’ve been hunched over a desk all afternoon, I could do with stretching my legs.”

Albus let himself take a sneak peek at Scorpius’s legs as they set off down the road to Valley Centertainment. He really did have a nice body. And a very nice taste in jeans.

\----------

All throughout the walk, Albus was uncomfortably aware of how close Scorpius was. They kept bumping elbows and shoulders as they mooched along, and Albus was almost overwhelmed by the idea of taking Scorpius’s hand in his. Somehow, he managed to restrain himself, and they continued chatting about random nonsense - Albus carefully avoiding any references to mums, dads and ice skating, just to be safe.

“Watch it, Scorp,” Albus suddenly said, reaching out his arm to grab Scorpius and pull him backwards, as a car turned into the carpark inches from where Scorpius was about to step out. “People drive like maniacs here, even when they’re not on the main road.”

“‘Scorp’?” Scorpius turned to Albus, wrinkling his nose. He grinned, obviously not in the slightest bit concerned about his potential brush with death. “No one’s ever called me Scorp before. I like it.”

Albus blushed. “I didn’t even mean to. I mean, I didn’t know I had. It just slipped out”

“Scorp.” Scorpius repeated. “No. It’s good. A happy accident.”

Albus groaned inside as Scorpius looked pleased about his new name. He really was going to ruin himself. ‘Scorp’ just made Scorpius sound ten times cuter, and honestly, Albus had already dealt with as much cute as he thought he could handle for one day.

\----------

When they reached Wagamamas, it was still almost empty given how early in the day it was. Albus and Scorpius were shown to a booth on the side of the restaurant, and once they’d both confirmed they’d been before and knew how everything worked, their waiter left them alone to choose their food. Albus already knew he was having the Yaki Udon - he got it every single time, it was hands down the best thing they had - but Scorpius took longer to decide, eventually plumping for a katsu curry. Once they’d ordered, Scorpius sat back again the cushioning, suddenly looking serious.

“So, er, I hope you don’t find this weird anything, but I actually had an ulterior motive for suggesting meeting up.”

Albus looked up so fast he almost cricked his neck, a blush accelerating across his cheeks. Was this it? Was Scorpius actually going to ask him out? Say this was a date after all? Albus wasn’t prepared, he didn’t even have his Coke yet and he felt like he needed to drink something or he’d choke - 

“I wanted to talk to you about something. It’s… I haven’t… I can’t tell anyone else. And I just felt like… you might get it? I don’t know why, because I know you barely know me, but I just feel like we clicked, and I’m sorry if you don’t, and I’ll shut up if that’s the case, but -”

“Scorpius.” said Albus, going from nervous to panicked to confused then back to nervous. “Slow down. What’s the matter?”

It didn’t sound like Scorpius was suddenly going to admit his feelings for Albus, but he clearly had something huge on his mind. Maybe he was gay? Maybe Yann had told him that Albus was gay, and Scorpius wanted to ask advice about coming out? Maybe that’s why things with his dad were weird? Albus felt way out his depth, and then remembered what he’d just said to Scorpius. Slow down. 

Taking his own advice, he forced himself to look Scorpius straight in the eye. “It’s OK. Tell me. Whatever it is, it’s cool.”

“OK.” Scorpius met Albus’s gaze, then looked down at the table, taking a deep breath. “I -”

“Fanta?” said the waiter, displaying the exact kind of awkward timing Albus was sure all waiting staff got professionally trained in. Scorpius looked like a deer caught in the headlights, so Abus quickly covered up the weird atmosphere by directing the Fanta at Scorpius, before accepting his Coke. When the waiter had gone, he looked at Scorpius again, waiting until the other boy felt comfortable enough to speak.

“OK. So. It’s just… I don’t want to skate anymore.” Scorpius mumbled the last part, still staring down at the table.

“You don’t want to… skate anymore? Like, at all? Why?” Albus was completely blindsided. Whatever he’d expected Scorpius to say, it wasn’t that.

“I don’t know. I mean, I know I definitely don’t want to, but I don’t know why. I’ve been feeling like this for a while, and I can’t tell anyone, especially not Dad because it’d break his heart, but I just… I don’t know what to do. I genuinely thought I might burst with not being able to say it, but then you came along, and I just sort of, finally knew that it’d be OK to tell someone? If the someone was you. And I wanted to see if saying it out loud made me feel any better.”

“Does it?” Albus asked. His mind was reeling from what Scorpius had said, and he was starting to panic again about saying the wrong thing. 

“No.” Scorpius said in an anguished tone; then laughed. “Well. A bit. It was good to get it out there, as actual words. But the feeling in my chest, like a hummingbird’s stuck in there, that’s still there.”

“Right. OK. Well, that doesn’t sound great. Obviously you shouldn’t do anything you don’t want to do, but… can you even just stop? What about the championships?”

Albus knew that probably wasn’t the most helpful question, but if he had any hope of supporting Scorpius through this thing, he had to get the full picture.

“I dunno. I mean, obviously I still have to do the championships. They’re in like, three weeks. It’d be stupid to pull out now, and throw absolutely everything away. But after that… I just want a break. I’ve been skating three or four times a week for most of my life, and I want that time back. I want to see what else I’m good at. I want the chance to hang out with people properly, and make friends.”

Albus nodded. He could sort of understand why, if he didn’t love hockey so much, it would feel like such a burden. He especially understood about the lack of time to make and hold on to close friends.

“I think that’s fair. It sounds like you might just be, like, burning out. Are you sure you can’t tell your dad? Won’t he want to know, if it’s affecting your happiness? I’m sure he wouldn’t be against you having some time off, to decide what you want to do?”

Scorpius sighed. “It’s not that Dad doesn’t support me. He does - that’s actually kind of the issue. He’s so supportive of me and my skating that he’s basically dedicated his entire life to me. Even more now… now that Mum’s gone.” Scorpius sniffed, and, as if she detected the tears threatening to fall, their waitress suddenly reappeared, holding two steaming plates of delicious smelling food.

When their curry and noodles had been deposited and Scorpius had wiped his eyes on a napkin, Albus gestured for Scorpius to continue.

“Yeah. So like, I told you that Mum was a skater too right? Well she and Dad used to be partners, obviously, but then he got injured and kind of bowed out of the skating world, and Mum carried on alone. She was amazing, she won loads of medals and trophies, even after having me, right up until she first started getting ill. Skating was like, absolutely everything to her, and because of that, my Dad seems to think it’s sacred or something. Like we’re keeping her memory alive through me doing it. I think also he thinks that, because they both had to stop through no fault of their own, I’m like... their legacy. He definitely won’t understand me wanting to give it up for no reason.”

Spinning his noodles around his fork, Albus felt his own heart ache again. Scorpius had clearly needed to unburden himself for a while, and it sounded as though he was carrying so much guilt and worry on his shoulders. Albus could understand where the other boy was coming from, given what he said about his mum and dad, but he couldn’t imagine having that kind of weight around his neck.

“Shit, Scorpius. That’s... I’m sorry. About your mum, again. And everything.” 

Scorpius flashed him a watery smile through a mouthful of katsu.

“However, if you and your dad are as close as you seem, I really think he’d want to know how you feel. He wouldn’t want you to be unhappy, even if that means stopping skating. And I’m sure your mum wouldn’t want you to force yourself into something, just for her.”

Scorpius nodded, through he still looked troubled. “You’re probably right. I’ve been trying to tell myself that too, but it hasn’t really worked. I mean, even if I manage to convince myself it’s the right decision, I still get stuck on the ‘tell Dad’ part of the plan. And if I don’t tell him, I can’t stop. And then I feel suffocated all over again, and I also worry that if I keep going when my heart’s not in it, I’ll not be as good anymore, and then he’ll be just as disappointed with me anyway -”

“Scorpius, you’re amazing” Albus interrupted. “Honestly. You’re like, the best skater I’ve ever seen, and I only watched you for five minutes. I swear, you don’t have anything to worry about there. But I do think you need to talk to your dad.”

Scorpius smiled, properly that time, although his eyes still looked a little red.

“Thanks, Albus. That means a lot. And I know. I think, maybe… now I have a friend on my side, I might try and bring it up with him after the championships. I can’t back out before that, and it’s only another few weeks.”

Albus blushed. OK, so Scorpius hadn’t asked him here to declare his undying love and snog him senseless over Pan-Asian food, but he had opened up about something deeply personal, and he had chosen Albus to tell his biggest secret to. And he’d called Albus his friend. Again.

No matter how much Albus fancied the pants off Scorpius, he was glad to at least share this with him. If this was all Scorpius ever had to offer Albus, he’d take it. Scorpius seemed like he’d be a really good friend - caring, and funny, and clever, and talented - and Albus couldn’t remember feeling this close to anyone else so quickly after meeting them.

“I think that’s a good idea,” he told Scorpius, scraping up the last of his noodles. “You never know, he might surprise you. And you’d be going out with a bang when you win.”

“You don’t ‘win’ the championships, Albus, it’s not a hockey game,” teased Scorpius, his proper smile back in place now he’d offloaded what had been bothering him. “You place, and take points. It’s OK that you didn’t know that though, ice hockey isn’t exactly known for its subtlety.” 

Albus snorted. He’d been a bit worried that Scorpius would spend the rest of the afternoon stressed and upset about what they’d talked about, but if he was back to joking around already, then things would probably be OK. 

\----------

That evening, Albus was too buzzed to focus on anything. It was almost 11pm and he knew he should get some sleep as he had a full day of college and practice the next day, but his mind had long since vetoed that idea and instead was determined to spend the whole night reliving every single moment of his afternoon with Scorpius. 

After they’d left Wagamama’s, they’d headed back to Meadowhall and grabbed a Krispy Kreme doughnut each, eating them in front of the fountain in the Oasis dining area. Scorpius had dropped a few pennies into the fountain, insisting Albus made a wish, and Albus had laughed along - he hadn’t done that since he was a kid, and he found himself thinking that he was having more fun with Scorpius than he’d had in a long time. 

Spending time with Scorpius was different to when Albus hung out with anyone from college, and it wasn’t just because Albus didn’t secretly want to kiss anyone from college. Now that Scorpius had spilled what was bothering him, that weird tone and expression he used to have didn’t feature anymore, at least around Albus, and Albus discovered that a less stressed Scorpius was a very silly Scorpius. He apparently had no filter or embarrassment for doing things other boys their age might have scoffed at. 

He was also an incredibly affectionate person, as Albus was coming to realise to his poor hearts detriment. He’d thought that maybe the little touches on the way to Wagamamas were accidental, but Scorpius had also brushed against him multiple times on the walk back, and kept doing things like grabbing Albus’s arm or steering him by the elbow when he was explaining something or wanting to get Albus’s attention. 

Albus wasn’t stupid enough to think that Scorpius had singled him out to be touchy feely with, or that it meant anything - it was clearly just who Scorpius was as a person, when he felt comfortable with someone - but it didn’t make his own feelings any easier to deal with. His skin felt hot at the memory of Scorpius’s fingers, as brief as their touches through his hoody were, and he couldn’t stop smiling at how much fun they’d had. 

It had been hard not to give anything away when he was in Scorpius’s company, but he’d kept himself in check, not wanting to broach all that after the emotional day Scorpius had already had. Besides, Albus was more than happy at the thought of Scorpius just being his friend. His best friend. He seemed like the type of person to really give his all to being a best friend, and as Albus didn’t exactly already have one of those, he knew he could do a lot worse than Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.

Speaking of, Albus’s phone suddenly buzzed loudly against his bedside table, and Albus snatched it up quickly. He shared a bedroom wall with his sister Lily, and it was getting late - she was not someone you wanted to be around if she hadn’t got her eight sweet hours of sleep on a school night.

_Thanks again for today. I had a really great time. It’s so nice to have such a good friend at last. :)_

Despite the text making it quite clear what Scorpius thought of him, Albus felt his cheeks heat up. He knew if he looked in the mirror right now he’d have the soppiest smile on his face.

Tapping out a quick reply, Albus pressed send before he over thought it and deleted the whole thing.

**me too. i’m so glad we met. :)**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As before, Meadowhall and Valley Centertainment are also real places that I spent the majority of my teen years in! The train ride and walk that Albus and Scorpius go on was my commute for soooo long, and I just love imagining them both treading the same path on the way to their Not A Date...


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a handful of... revelations... 
> 
> (also, 10 points to anyone who can spot my favourite line from Cursed Child, which I shamelessly stole!)

Albus and Scorpius texted on and off over the next week, never really chatting about anything specific, just filling each other in on their days. Scorpius got up really early on the days he had skating rehearsals, so Albus woke to find a little barrage of messages waiting for him every other morning, which put him in a better mood than even the strongest coffee could. 

They hadn’t made any more plans to meet up again, but Albus wasn’t too worried - he knew they’d catch each other at the rink on Sunday, and he barely had any more free time at the moment what with practice, homework and worrying about the ever looming final match. It was now just two weeks away, and Albus’s butterflies were on the verge of going from nervous to nervous breakdown every time he thought about it. 

The Steelers would be playing the Nottingham Panthers, last years’ champions. The Panthers were down to take first place overall again even if they lost, unless the Belfast Giants won against the Cardiff Devils in their equally as hotly contested match. Then, the Giants would take the lead, leaving the Panthers in second place and the Steelers bringing up the rear in third. Either way, the Steelers would podium unless they themselves lost to the Panthers. It was a huge amount of pressure for their team, who hadn’t got anywhere near the top five in years, and having to beat the reigning champions was no tall order. 

However, as Yann and Coach kept reminding them all, it really was now or never, and they were definitely capable of it from a technique and strength point of view. Whether their nerve and finesse held on the day was anyone’s guess, but nobody wanted to come third more than the Steelers wanted to - and that itself had to count for something.

Albus wasn’t sure how Scorpius was coping now he’d got his true feelings about his own skating out in the open; he hadn’t wanted to mention it over text and Scorpius had made it quite clear he wanted to wait until after the championships in a few weeks to even consider bringing it all up with his dad. Still, Albus wondered how he was managing, essentially pretending 24/7 - he seemed to practice even more than Albus did, and Albus hated to think that Scorpius was unhappy for most of the week.

At least when they were both messaging, Albus knew Scorpius was OK - he was lighthearted and jokey over Whatsapp, filling Albus in on all the silly little things best friends usually knew about each other. Albus had already picked up so much about Scorpius’s classes, his teachers, his old life in Wiltshire, the music he listened to, the kind of films he enjoyed and his favourite foods; and he had shared similar snippets of his own life back. 

At the back of his mind, he wondered how, if Scorpius really was this open and friendly with him about 99% of things - including a really big thing - after just a few short weeks of knowing each other, he hadn’t already made a close friend in the few months he’d been living here. Sure, they’d both happened to meet at the place where they spent 75% of their free time, but Scorpius was in college all day most days like Albus was. Albus couldn’t imagine him sitting on his own during class and break and lunch, he was far too… vibrant. And cool. And nice. And beautiful. 

Groaning, Albus fell face down on his bed from where he’d been sitting. He had to stop thinking Scorpius was beautiful. He had to stop torturing himself. He had to just enjoy what they had.

\----------

When Albus finished practice the following Sunday, Scorpius was already waiting for him again in the stands. Albus grinned, feeling much more at ease about going up to greet Scorpius now that they had an established friendship. However, Scorpius wasn’t grinning back - instead a small, nervous frown was playing around his forehead, and Albus instantly felt nervous too. Had Scorpius’s dad found out? Was Scorpius OK? 

“Do you want to come over? To my house? For lunch and a bit?” Scorpius blurted out as Albus got close enough to hear him.

Albus was momentarily taken aback; once again Scorpius had managed to blindside him with something completely unexpected, but at the same time Albus didn’t have to think twice.

“Err, sure. Yeah! That would be nice. Is your dad OK with it?”

“It was Dad’s idea, actually,” said Scorpius, blushing a bit. “Now that I’ve been talking to and hanging out with you, he wants to meet you. Not like, in a weird way. He’s great, I promise. But a bit overprotective. Probably because of the Mum thing. And I’m rambling now. Sorry. Do you actually want to come? You don’t have to, if you already have plans.”

Albus laughed; nervous Scorpius was kind of adorable. 

“No, no plans, and of course I want to come. And no worries, I get it. My dad was super overprotective too, until James grew up to be a human tornado and he had to stop worrying as much before he gave himself a heart attack.”

Scorpius grinned. “Your family sound wild. I’d love to meet them all one day.”

“You can! If I’m going round yours today, maybe you can come to mine next weekend? Or for tea in the week? Though probably not on a training night, as I don’t get home until really late. Up to you really. If you want a bit of… space, I guess?”

“Cool! Really? I’d love to,” said Scorpius, smiling again. “Let’s do yours next Sunday after practice? I’ll ask my Dad today, but I’m sure it’ll be fine as long as we don’t bunk off early.” He rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I’ll text mine now and let him know I don’t need the ride home. Hopefully he won’t be too mad, he was talking about popping into Meadowhall today anyway to get Mum some bits.” 

“Great. My Dad’s waiting outside in the car, so as soon as you’re ready we’ll head out. But no rush, he likes just sitting there listening to music sometimes.” Scorpius rolled his eyes again, but Albus could tell it was with affection.

Ignoring the thought that this definitely felt a bit like “meeting the parents”, and ignoring the fact he’d have to face Mr Malfoy knowing Scorpius’s secret, Albus headed off to text his Dad and get changed, half-wishing he’d brought along a better outfit now he apparently had a good first impression to make - even if that particular pressure was all in his own head.

\----------

Albus had half-expected Scorpius to live in one of the really huge houses in Cawthorne, up by the Cannon Hall stately home itself, so was kind of surprised when Mr Malfoy pulled up outside a modest sized cottage surrounded on three sides by a beautiful, if rather wild, garden.

‘Mini-meadow’ would have probably been more accurate, Albus thought, as he stared at the mass of blue and red and yellow and white and pink petals surrounding them. It was chaotic, but also incredibly beautiful, and in complete opposition to the carefully manicured lawns and topiary hedges elsewhere on Scorpius’s street.

“Wow”, he mumbled, stepping out of the car and staring around. “Your garden is amazing, Scorpius. It looks like something out of a kids book or a painting or something.”

“Thank you, Albus, though neither of us can really take credit,” Mr Malfoy answered, closing his own car door and smiling down at Albus. “My late wife, Astoria, was very into horticulture. Our old garden was her playground. Sadly neither myself nor Scorpius inherited her green fingers, so we needed something we could mostly leave alone, but still enjoy, and that would remind us of her. When we spotted this place on the market, it seemed like fate.”

Albus nodded, not really knowing what to say. Mr Malfoy spoke with such love and affection about Astoria, but it was clear the grief was still very raw for them both, and he didn’t want to risk saying the wrong thing and upsetting Scorpius’s dad the same way he’d originally put his foot in it with Scorpius.

“Mum would love to get her hands on this,” Scorpius agreed, coming round from the other side of the car. “But I think it’s very us too. It’s a bit… different.” 

Scorpius’s dad gently touched his sons’ shoulder, an openly fond expression on his face. Albus looked away, suddenly feeling as though he was intruding on a private moment.

Mr Malfoy clearly adored his son, and Albus didn’t doubt for a second that he’d accept Scorpius’s wish to stop skating, even if he was personally saddened by it. Although Scorpius had said that his dad was overprotective and sometimes over-involved, Albus thought from his first impression that the two acted more like friends than father and son. No matter what Scorpius said, Mr Malfoy listened without judgement, offering comments and advice where necessary in his calm yet concentrated manner. There was clearly a lot of mutual respect and appreciation between them, despite Scorpius’s big secret, and they’d chatted away on the way home about all things under the sun, things that Albus wouldn’t necessarily have thought to bring up with either his own mum or dad.

Scorpius had also drawn Albus into the conversation easily, telling his dad all about Albus’s place on the ice hockey team and prompting Albus to explain more about the games. Mr Malfoy had seemed genuinely interested, asking Albus lots of questions about the league and the finals and Albus’s future in the sport, which Albus answered as best as he could. From another parent, it might have felt like being grilled, or making polite small talk, but with Mr Malfoy it was neither. Albus could tell he was really hearing what was being said, as he interjected with thoughtful observations and interested noises as Albus explained how he’d been on the team throughout his teenage years, following in his brothers and his own dad’s footsteps. Mr Malfoy even said he thought he recognised Albus’s dad’s name from years back - ice sports often crossed over in some circles, after all - and Albus was surprised but pleased at the potential connection, however small and brief.

Albus had then been content to just listen after a while, enjoying the dynamic between his friend and who Albus was coming to think of as an older, more serious and slightly quieter version of Scorpius. They even looked alike, and had exactly the same hair - although Mr Malfoy’s was neatly french braided and twisted into a slick ponytail, which Albus privately thought would also look extremely good on Scorpius. 

Now, he followed the two Malfoys down the path through the garden-meadow, waiting as Mr Malfoy unlocked the door and moved inside before dumping his skates and kit in the corner of the hallway next to Scorpius’s stuff and slipping his shoes off. 

If the size of Scorpius’s house and his garden had been unexpected, the interior of the cottage was no different. Albus didn’t know why, but he’d imagined a place filled with fine and expensive looking furniture in dark colours, and family heirlooms filling the surfaces. Instead, he was standing in a pale whitewashed hallway, decorated with simple but colourful framed prints all positioned a little haphazardly. The wooden floor was warm underfoot, and an open door led off to a living room filled with squishy sofas and far more natural light than made sense for a cottage this small. 

Further down the hallway, an archway separated the space from a compact but well-stocked kitchen, with jars and pots of pasta, rice and grains lining the shelves along the walls. An orange Aga took up almost a whole corner by itself, and the overall vibe was so cosy and welcoming that Albus immediately felt calm and at home.

“I’ve made a quiche for lunch. I thought we could have it with salad and that bread you baked yesterday, Scorpius?” Mr Malfoy asked his son.

“Mmm yes, that sounds good. I’ll just show Albus upstairs, is that OK?”

“Sure,” Mr Malfoy said easily, “I’ll get everything on the table in 15 minutes if that suits you both?”

“Perfectly” Scorpius smiled, heading towards the staircase and beckoning to Albus. “Come see my room!”

“Thanks Mr Malfoy, lunch sounds lovely. I can’t wait,” Albus said politely. After initially greeting Albus back at the rink, Mr Malfoy had invited Albus to call him Draco - but it felt far too informal and wrong at this early stage, so Albus instead swapped between a rather awkward “Sir” and “Mr Malfoy” whenever he was called upon.

Mr Malfoy smiled, and Albus turned to follow Scorpius up the stairs. They were kind of crooked, which only added to the cosy vibes, and Albus once again marvelled that someone like the Malfoys lived somewhere like this. On the other hand, it suited Scorpius on some sort of level that Albus couldn’t quite put his finger on yet, but instantly felt was right for his friend.

Scorpius’s room was another surprise. Albus had expected something relatively clean and tidy with maybe a few hipster looking posters on the wall, and a muted colour scheme. Instead, it looked as though a rainbow had exploded in there. A rainbow jungle, to be even more exact. Plants stood in every corner, on every shelf, and even hung from the ceiling in little woven hammocks. Scorpius’s bed was unmade, and clothes were piled up high on an ancient looking armchair which sat rather randomly against the far wall. His walls were covered in a mixture of notes, photographs, posters and prints, and even some sketches that looked as though Scorpius might have done them himself. 

Albus was a little overwhelmed, in a good way - if he ever wanted to get to know Scorpius better, this was clearly the place to come. The entire room looked as though someone had spent a lifetime with Scorpius and extracted every single bit of his personality, even the hidden parts, and laid them bare for Albus to look at and touch and pick up and absorb.

“Wow, Scorpius, this is… a lot” Albus laughed, knowing Scorpius wouldn’t be offended. “I thought James was messy, but this is something else.”

“Messy?” Scorpius clutched his heart in mock betrayal. “This, Albus Potter, is where the magic happens.”

He blushed at the same time as Albus did, seemingly realising too late what his words could mean.

“Not like THAT. Ha. No. I definitely didn’t mean… whatever that means.” Scorpius’s blush was starting to rival one of Albus’s, and Albus laughed and decided to take pity on his friend.

“What are these drawings? Did you do them?” Albus moved towards a sketch nearest to him, looking at the soft lines and smudgy pencil, fancying that he could almost feel the energy with which they were drawn. 

The image was of a figure skater, bent at a 90 degree angle, one leg stuck out behind him and both arms reaching forwards. It was good. Really good.

“Some of them” Scorpius said, grateful for the change in subject, but blushing again at the implied praise in Albus’s tone. “Mum used to draw, and I kind of inherited it from her I guess. She was obviously much better than me, but I enjoy doing it. It makes me feel closer to her.”

Scorpius joined Albus, before reaching out and touching the drawing. “Mum used to come to training with me and Dad when she was recovering from the chemo, and draw whilst I skated. I gave it a go after she died, and found that sketching the moves helps me remember them. Also, it’s something that I can have that’s sort of, still keeping mum and skating close, but doing something just for me.”

“They’re incredible,” Albus said honestly, touched once again that Scorpius chose to reveal so much of himself and his past in a single anecdote.

“Thanks.” Scorpius’s smile was shy but pleased, and he turned away, gesturing to the rest of the walls. “The rest of it’s just stuff I like, stuff that makes me happy to look at. When we moved here, it was the only place other than our old house and my grandparents villa in France that I’d ever spent an extended amount of time in. I had to make it feel… safe. That probably sounds stupid.” 

“Not at all.” Albus shook his head, imagining how difficult it must have been for Scorpius to leave behind the house he’d shared with his mum, and the memories of them all living together as a family. “I get it. I’ve never moved before either, I’d probably find it really weird too.”

“It was weird,” Scorpius agreed, going over to the armchair and picking up armfuls of clothes, dumping them on the floor so the seat was cleared. “But I’m glad we came here. The old house felt too big and sad without her. And it’s nice to have a new start, see new things, meet new people. Like you!”

Scorpius gestured for Albus to sit in the chair, and plopped himself down on his bed with a flourish.

“Skating takes up so much time and energy, my life can feel a bit tunnel vision at times. Moving here reminded me there was still a world outside the rink, and the championships. That’s why I don’t want it to be my whole life, not anymore.”

“Scorpius! Lunch is ready.” Mr Malfoy’s voice called from below.

“Coming, Dad!” Scorpius replied, jumping up and looking a bit nervous that Mr Malfoy may have heard them. “I’m starving, aren’t you?” he asked Albus, his eyes wondering something different.

“Ravenous” agreed Albus, his stomach rumbling right on cue. He also shook his head slightly, indicating that he didn’t think Mr Malfoy had been listening to them. Scorpius looked relieved.

They quickly made their way back downstairs and through the living room to a small dining area, where a beautiful oak table stood covered in plates and bowls and glasses and an amazing smelling quiche.

“Wow, Dad, what’s in this one?” Scorpius asked, sniffing hungrily.

“Broccoli, and a large chunk of that strong cheddar from the farmer’s market I got last Saturday,” Mr Malfoy answered, cutting slices and plating up salad and quiche for three.

“Quiche’s are Dad’s speciality” Scorpius told Albus, bumping his friend by the hip. “Sit wherever.”

Albus chose a seat and took his plate from Mr Malfoy, thanking him and trying not to inhale the entire thing before Scorpius even sat down. It really did smell incredible.

“If quiche’s are my speciality, then bread is Scorpius’s” said Mr Malfoy, sitting down opposite Albus. “This is a sourdough I believe, baked yesterday. There’s some salted butter over there, or olive oil in that little dish if you prefer.”

“I didn’t know you baked, Scorpius,” Albus said, cutting himself a slice of the bread and reaching over for the butter.

Scorpius smiled. “I don’t, as a rule. Just bread. Whenever I try and make cakes or cookies or anything they go terribly wrong.”

Mr Malfoy laughed. “The last time Scorpius tried to make me a birthday cake, I thought I was going to have to call the fire brigade.”

“Dad!” Scorpius blushed, but he was still smiling. “I told you, it was the recipe!”

“Sure, Scorpius,” Mr Malfoy teased. “Now, Albus. Do you ever cook? Or bake? Scorpius tells me you have a big family, do you all take it in turns or do you let your poor parents do all the work?”

Albus snorted, glad he didn’t have anything in his mouth at the time. “I’d love to see Mum cook. She’s an absolute disaster in the kitchen. Dad does most of it, but me and James - that’s my brother - occasionally take over on a weekend. Lily, my sister, bakes quite a bit though. She loves making fairy cakes, whenever she finds time after her million other hobbies.”

Mr Malfoy and Scorpius both laughed, and Albus smiled, pleased. He felt relaxed here with Scorpius and his dad, eating home-cooked food and conversing normally like three adults. He loved his own family, he really did, but mealtimes were either complete chaos if all of them ate together, or non-existent when they failed to match their schedules and re-heated whatever was available at different points throughout the day.

“Does Lily skate too? I just realised I never asked,” said Scorpius, his mouth half full of quiche. “I mean, you do, and James did, and your dad did. Is there a girls team too? Or does it not matter about that?”

Albus shook his head, a little surprised that Scorpius would intentionally bring up skating. Then again, he supposed his friend was trying to act normal, as if nothing was wrong.

“Nah, there’s just the Juniors, anyone can join, but we do tend to get more boys for some reason. But Lily doesn’t play anyway. She does skate though - she joined a roller derby team a few months ago, and seems to be really enjoying that.”

“That’s so cool!” Scorpius said, turning to his dad. “Remember when I really wanted rollerskates, and you said no because you were worried I’d hurt my ankle on them and not be able to ice skate anymore?”

Albus took a bite of his quiche. Scorpius had managed to sound jovial, not bitter, but the look in his eyes betrayed how much the memory clearly frustrated him.

“No, I don’t,” Mr Malfoy chuckled, “But I can see you still hold a grudge. Sorry, Scorpius. Maybe once the championships are over you can ask Lily to show you how to roller skate.”

Scorpius laughed and the tension was broken, and Albus found himself blushing at the thought of introducing Scorpius to his family and having him hang out with Lily, like it was normal. Which, he reminded himself, it could be. Friends basically lived at each others’ houses, right? Just look at James and Teddy...

“Ugh, Dad, you’re impossible” Scorpius sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes and winking at Albus. “The amount of things I get to do ‘after the championships’ will take a whole year to get through at this rate.”

Albus could tell Scorpius was teasing, but knowing what he knew, he didn’t trust himself to say anything out loud in case he got his tone wrong and gave something away.

“Well,” said Mr Malfoy, helping himself to more salad, “You’ll soon be able to take a few months off, if you want to. Not completely of course, but we can cut down the training to once or twice a week. Give you time to try out a few new things around here, before the next season starts.”

Scorpius looked down at his plate. Nodding, he twisted his fork around a bunch of leaves. His face was unreadable. “Um. Yeah. Sure. I might. I’ll think about it.”

Albus couldn’t believe how close they were coming to the topic Scorpius apparently wanted very much to bring up, but also to avoid. Once again, Albus had no idea what to say or how to react, so he shoved another bit of bread in his mouth to escape having to reply. Mr Malfoy seemed satisfied with Scorpius’s answer however, or at least didn’t seem to notice anything suddenly amiss, and so Albus found he could breathe again.

They quickly moved on to talking about the upcoming week, Scorpius’s homework, and the latest episode of something on Netflix they were both invested in - at which point the conversation moved fully onto TV and films, and Albus got completely swept up arguing with Scorpius about which Stranger Things character was the best (Albus said Dustin, Scorpius said Eleven, which was just so PREDICTABLE); and discussing I, Tonya at length, which obviously Mr Malfoy had strong feelings on.

When no one could manage another bite, Mr Malfoy sat back, a contented smile on his face. 

“Thank you for joining us at such short notice today, Albus,” he said. “Scorpius mentions you so much that it felt weird not to put a face to a name. It’s been lovely having you over.”

“Dad!” Scorpius hissed, clearly kicking Mr Malfoy under the table. “Albus, I do not talk about you all the time. And when I do, it’s just good stuff. I promise.” He glared at his dad, as if daring him to contradict him.

Albus was blushing again, but he couldn’t help but grin at Scorpius’s exasperated expression. He looked at Mr Malfoy.

“Thank you for inviting me, Sir, and for the delicious lunch. I’ve had a really nice time.”

Scorpius and Mr Malfoy both smiled back at him, and Albus felt his very full tummy do a little flop. 

“Well, you’re welcome here anytime, so don’t be a stranger. As long as it doesn’t interrupt either of your training schedules or school work, that is!” 

Scorpius rolled his eyes at his dad again, getting up from the table and pulling Albus up with him.

“Dad, we’re not going to suddenly fail everything because we hang out once a week. Chill.”

Mr Malfoy held his hands up. “I know, you’re a good kid, and Albus seems decent enough too.” He winked at Albus. “Now, are you staying on for a bit Albus, or do you need me to drive you home?”

Albus looked at Scorpius. “Err… I’m not busy…?”

“He’s staying” said Scorpius decisively, picking up his plate. “And we’ll wash up. Come on Albus, the kitchen’s through here.”

Grabbing some bowls and plates and following Scorpius, Albus wandered into the kitchen and placed them carefully on the side whilst Scorpius turned the taps on. Returning to collect the rest of the lunch detritus, Mr Malfoy gave Albus another smile, then stood up and said he was going to catch up on some paperwork in his office.

“That means he’s going to obsess over my routine again,” said Scorpius as Albus rejoined him by the sink. “I swear we’ll be changing it up until the day before the championships.”

Dunking all the dishes he’d collected in the warm soapy water Scorpius had run, Albus started scrubbing. “Is he worried about anything in particular?”

“I don’t think so. No. No, he’s just a huge perfectionist” said Scorpius wryly, picking up a tea towel ready to dry the plates Albus had finished with. “Mostly we agree on stuff, especially now I’m older, but sometimes… it’s hard to describe. I just feel like he sometimes forgets that I’m my own person, instead of a teenage version of him, and that I can’t just do exactly what he did. And that I have my own ideas and stuff too. Like yeah, I might not want to skate all the time,” Scorpius dropped his voice lower, “but if I have to, I want to have some control over it.”

Albus thought about it. He knew he had to tread carefully, due to Mr Malfoy being only a few rooms away, but he’d had a question brewing all throughout lunch that he really wanted to voice.

“Have you… like… spoken to your dad about any of this stuff before? About you having autonomy and stuff over your routines? I know that he doesn’t know about, you know, it, but I get the impression that he knows… something?”

Scorpius sighed. “Kind of. Not exactly like how you mean though. Arghh. Look. I guess you might as well know absolutely everything. Last year, I did kind of… stop skating for a while. Because of something that happened. And it scared him. He got really… intense, and couldn’t believe I was giving up everything for...”

Scorpius trailed off, taking a deep breath. Albus slowly finished wiping the plate that was in his hands, and waited for Scorpius to carry on.

“For a boy.”

Albus froze. A _boy_. That meant… surely that meant… didn’t it? 

Feeling his heart thump painfully, and willing himself not to blush, he glanced up at Scorpius. The blond was looking straight at Albus, waiting, almost as though he was fearful of Albus’s reaction. Albus forced himself to stay casual, so as not to give any impression at all that he was in any way uncomfortable with what Scorpius had just shared.

“What happened?” Albus asked gently, and the relief that he hadn’t said anything about the ‘boy’ bit in particular was plain to see on Scorpius’s face.

“It’s so stupid. We weren’t even, like… together.” Scorpius finally looked away then, clearly embarrassed. “He was another skater, but he just used to do it for fun really, he didn’t enter any competitions or anything. We occasionally trained at the same time, and started talking, and I guess I just… got in too deep, I dunno. We hung out, and it was fun, but we never like, talked about what we were or anything. That was my mistake. I assumed too much, and he…. he didn’t think about me that way. At all. In fact, he was straight.”

Scorpius’s face twisted, and as much as Albus was trying not to think how familiar some parts of the story sounded, and not in a way he could handle right now, he genuinely felt sorry for Scorpius. If he hadn’t been up to his elbows in dishwater he’d even have probably hugged his friend - which itself was probably not a good idea in this particular situation, but whatever. Albus just hated seeing Scorpius look hurt.

“I’m sorry. That sounds really tough,” he said instead, focusing on the bubbles instead of daring to look at Scorpius’s eyes.

“Yeah. It sucked. It was a whole mess, because when Lucas found out how I felt he totally cut me off, and I took it really badly… that’s when I stopped skating, stopped going to the rink at all, because I didn’t want to bump into him. And by then I was already sort of losing interest in the whole thing anyway. Dad was tearing his hair out, he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that I was ‘throwing our whole life away’ over someone who hurt me. I don’t think he understood that I just wanted some time to myself, to get over Lucas and get my head straight.”

Albus nodded, letting Scorpius know he was listening.

“Lucas was also like… one of the first people I came out to. Dad’s known for years, obviously, and I managed to tell Mum before she passed, but I don’t… make a big deal out of it with anyone else. Though everyone probably knows, or at least suspects. Or maybe they don’t. That’s the mistake I made with Lucas. I assumed because he was into similar things to me, that he must be gay too. Although I know it doesn’t work like that. Or now I do, anyway. God, you must think I’m such an idiot.”

“Scorpius, no, I don’t. I promise. Not at all. I’m… wow. You’re not stupid. It sounds like the two of you just had, like, really crossed wires or something. It really wasn’t your fault. It’s so hard to know.”

Albus forced himself to look up and meet Scorpius’s eyes then, but Scorpius was looking down at the bowl he was drying, oblivious to Albus’s attempted implication.

“Thanks, Albus. You know, I haven’t really told anyone about this before either. I wasn’t out to my friends at my old school, so I couldn’t bring it up there, and then we started looking at moving, and me and Dad worked some stuff out, and I started skating again, and… and now here we are. In this tiny kitchen, having a waaaay deeper conversation than I think you signed up for when you came over for lunch.” Scorpius finished wryly, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

“Scorpius. It’s fine. Honestly, I’m… I’m glad you told me. Really.”

“Really?” This time, Scorpius did look up and meet Albus’s eyes. He smiled. “Thanks, Albus. You’re… you’re a really good friend. Sorry if that sounds weird, I know we’ve only just met. You probably have hundreds of friends. But… I’m really glad you’re mine now.”

Albus’s heart squeezed painfully, and for one horrible moment, he genuinely thought he might be sick. 

Their conversation last week had been something, but this was even harder to handle. Even if it did make everything make more sense. He at least now knew for sure that Scorpius was gay, but he also knew he’d had his heart broken. By a friend. Who’d caused him to give up skating, which had then got his dad on his back, when he was only just starting to figure things out in that regard. No wonder Scorpius was so fearful of bringing it up again - he’d already thought he’d let his dad down once, and that was when he had a solid reason to. 

Albus could totally see why he didn’t want to cause any similar drama, so soon after they’d apparently got back on track. And especially after Scorpius had just started hanging out with Albus. His dad would be forgiven for thinking he was experiencing deja vu, if everything came to light right now, as neither he nor Scorpius knew about Albus’s true feelings.

“I’m glad we’re friends too.” Albus forced out, praying his voice sounded normal. “And I guess it explains the whole inviting me over for lunch thing. Your dad,” he added, as Scorpius looked confused. “He probably wanted to check I wasn’t gonna, I don’t know, steal you away from skating again or something.”

Scorpius laughed in mock horror as the realisation dawned.

“Oh! Oh my god. I think you’re right. Wow. I am SO sorry - I can’t believe he asked you round here to, like, vet you or something. Oh my god. That’s so embarrassing.”

Albus felt a smile tugging at his lips and he looked away, not wanting to admit how much he wished he _was_ being vetted as a potential boyfriend. 

“It’s cool, I don’t mind. He’s really nice, your dad. He just wants you to do the best you can. I really do believe if you sat him down and talked to him properly, he’d understand. About everything.”

Scorpius smiled gratefully. “Yeah. Maybe you’re right. And I guess… in a way it’s all good. I’d rather him be like he is than not care at all. I mean, I know he’s probably not gonna disown me if I say I want to start, I dunno, juggling instead.”

Albus snorted. “Juggling? That’s what you want to risk the most awkward conversation of the year for?”

“No,” Scorpius laughed, turning to put the plates and bowls he’d dried in the nearby cupboard. “I have the coordination for it - thanks figure skating - but it’s not high on my list. To be honest, all I really want to do is hang out.”

He stood up and looked straight at Albus as he said this, and Albus couldn’t look away. 

He also couldn’t help but wonder, even after everything they’d discussed last week and today - especially after everything they’d discussed last week and today - if there wasn’t anything more behind Scorpius’s words. Like now, he thought there might be, but then Scorpius would say something so straightforward like “you’re a really good friend”, and Albus would be back at square one, berating himself for imagining subtext that wasn’t there.

“Yeah, same,” he agreed, nodding and trying to inject some sense back into his brain. “I can’t wait to have some time off after the finals. I love that I won’t have to practice four times a week over the entire summer hols.”

“Summer!” cried Scorpius, throwing his arms out dramatically. “My first summer in Yorkshire. What is there to do around here when school’s out? You have to show me.”

“It’s a deal,” promised Albus. He genuinely couldn’t think of anything better than spending a whole summer with Scorpius. He didn’t even care if they did nothing more exciting than the washing up at each other's houses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the ice hockey teams mentioned above are real teams, but I did take a few liberties with how the league and matches and points work - please gloss over any technicalities in favour of driving this plot along!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that it's a popular fandom trope (and indeed canon!) that Harry does all the cooking in the Potter household, but I decided to turn that idea on its head here as the thought of Muggle Harry burning even the simplest of snacks and sides is just personally hilarious to me - sorry if it's too out of character for anyone!

“So what’s the deal then?”

Albus fasted his pads and looked at Craig, who was booting up next to him in the changing rooms the next day.

“The deal? What deal?”

“With that skater dude. Scorpion, or whatever his name is. I saw you leave with him yesterday.”

“It’s Scorpius, and we don’t have a ‘deal’”, Albus said, feeling weirdly embarrassed. This was like getting interrogated by Karl all over again, but even worse, because Karl was at least loud and brash and kind of funny with it. Craig was just nosy. “I just went over to his to hang for a while. We’re friends.”

“That was quick,” Craig said, looking at Albus closely. “You met him, what? A week ago? And now you’re close enough to visit each others’ houses?”

“Three weeks ago, and I guess? We went out for dinner last week and we text all the time too, we actually know each other pretty well,” Albus argued, not wanting Craig to say it was weird, as that would make him feel even weirder about it all.

“You went out for dinner together? Just you two? And you text all the time? Albus, you’re dating him!” Karl himself laughed, coming up out of nowhere and sitting down on Albus’s other side. “You are so dating him, and you don’t even know it.”

 _I wish I was_ and _Scorpius is the one who doesn’t seem to know it_ and _Jesus, why won’t you both get off my back_ were what Albus wanted to say. “Don’t be stupid, Jenkins, we’re just mates,” was what he actually came out with.

“Yeah. Right. Keep telling yourself that, Potter.” Karl smirked at Craig, though his eyes were kind. “I think it’s sorta sweet anyway. He’s definitely your type.”

“How do you even know what my type is?” said Albus, confused and needing to escape this conversation before he accidentally let any actual feelings slip.

“I don’t have to know the details, I just look at your face every time Scorpius is anywhere near you. It’s plain as day you fancy him mate.”

Albus blushed. He’d really have to work on that. _Although_ , a little voice at the back of his head needled, _if it really is that obvious, Scorpius will already know. And he doesn’t exactly act like he’s put off by it, does he? Quite the opposite, in fact._

“Shut up,” Albus mumbled to himself, not realising he’d said it out loud until Karl laughed again, assuming it had been directed at his last remark.

“You got it, Al. We won’t tease you anymore. Just don’t, like, let us find you snogging him in here.” 

Albus frowned.

“Not because you’re two blokes! We don’t give a shit about that, you know we don’t. Nobody does. We just don’t wanna see anyone snogging anyone in here. It’s disgusting and smells of armpit.”

Craig nodded fervently and Albus finally laughed, breaking the tension. 

“I promise not to snog Scorpius in the changing rooms. Ever,” he even managed to joke back, hoping that was the end of it. His imagination was very unhelpfully now gifting him image after image of him snogging Scorpius in a variety of different rooms, and he was finding it even more difficult to concentrate on keeping his cool.

“That’s my man. Now, let’s get out there and smash some moves. Less than two weeks to go!” Karl said, thumping Albus on the back and standing up. 

Albus followed, checking his laces were tight enough and following his teammates out onto the ice. He needed to focus for two hours, three max, and then he promised his brain he’d think about snogging Scorpius again. When he was back at home, alone. Just for a little bit.

\----------

Over the next week, Albus and Scorpius continued texting - they didn’t have conversations anymore as such, just one long thread that they dipped in and out of, constantly checking and updating between class and practice and rehearsal and homework and sleep.

Albus was no further along in working out Scorpius’s potential feelings, if that even made sense. He knew where he stood, had known from the beginning, but Scorpius remained infuriatingly hard to unpick, even after spilling his entire heart out to Albus twice.

Sometimes it felt like they really were just mates, swapping jokes and sending each other hilarious memes and moaning about their teachers, but other times… other times Albus became more and more convinced that there was something there, on both sides. 

Like the time Scorpius had replied to a stupid selfie Al had taken after he got drenched walking back from college with a “you’re so cute!!!!” (four exclamation marks! Albus had counted them obsessively to see if they knew something he didn’t.) 

And like that other time, when Albus had apologised for keeping Scorpius awake as he banged on about something stupid until 11.30pm one night, forgetting that Scorpius had been up since 5am and was probably about to fall asleep on his phone. Scorpius had sent a smiley emoji back, followed by a _No worries, I’d rather talk to you than sleep_ that caused Albus to need a full minute to recover before sending anything else.

The problem was, the more Albus thought about everything, the more he overthought, and the less sure he became. Knowing that Scorpius was gay, or at least bi, actually wasn’t all that helpful other than for making Albus’s heart and stomach want to leap out of his body with hope. The fact that Scorpius liked men didn’t actually prove anything - it didn’t mean that he liked Albus. And even if he did, he probably wouldn’t want to take the risk in admitting it or doing anything tangible about it, due to being scared off by the last bloke - Lucas - that he fell for, not to mention having the whole skating-dad-dead mum-thing going on at the same time. And _besides_ , on top of all _that_ , Scorpius didn’t even know that Albus was gay. That itself was reason enough to keep quiet - if Scorpius feared that Albus might react like Lucas had done, then there’d be no way he’d ever make a move.

So where did that leave Albus? As far as he could tell, he had three choices. One, he could casually admit to Scorpius that he was into men as well, and see what Scorpius did with that information. Two, he could up the ante a bit in their texts - flirt a bit more openly, touch Scorpius more when they were together, try and hint his way into Scorpius’s heart. And three, he could do nothing, say nothing, get over his stupid crush and just continue to keep Scorpius around as a friend.

Obviously option one was the most sensible. Albus was already out, so it shouldn’t be a big deal to explicitly mention to anyone anymore. And then the ball would be in Scorpius’s court, leaving him with space and time to work things through after he’d solved everything else he had going on. Option two was terrifying, and probably a bit weird - Albus wasn’t the most confident flirter at the best of times, and he didn’t want to make Scorpius uncomfortable if it turned out the other boy had no interest in Albus whatsoever. Option three looked like it was the easiest, as on paper it involved doing nothing, but Albus wasn’t sure how long he could keep torturing himself not knowing. He wasn’t sure he could just be Scorpius’s friend, until it was absolutely clear that anything else was off the table. The hope and the wonder might finish him off.

With a sigh, Albus threw down his pen and rested his head in his hands. The essay he’d been working on plotting out just wasn’t going to happen tonight. He felt wrought out; emotionally exhausted, and yet he was also fizzing with some kind of weird energy that he only felt around Scorpius, or when he was thinking about Scorpius. 

Giving his essay up as a bad job, and knowing he’d regret putting it off when he came back to it tomorrow, Albus moved from his desk to his bed and flicked through Netflix. 

With a wry smile, he pressed play on The Cutting Edge. James would absolutely roast him if he walked in to find Albus watching something so ‘lame’, but Albus couldn’t really see anything wrong with a film about a figure skater and a hockey player teaming up against all odds. 

\----------

Far too soon, it was Sunday again, and although Albus was excited at the thought of seeing Scorpius in the flesh for what was becoming a weekly hangout, he was nervous about his big match being less than a week away, and even more anxious about Scorpius being in his house and meeting his family. 

He knew that the Potters could be a lot. James and Lily were both extremely loud and extroverted, and could raise the default volume of a room just by walking past it. His dad, Harry, was chill enough, but he had the worst jokes known to mankind, and he always seemed to think it was his god given duty to tell as many of them as he could to any visitor he came across. Ginny, his mum, always laughed at them at least - but then she was just as bad, wanting to quiz and chat to and hang out with all of her children’s friends, and be ‘the cool mum’. The worst thing was, she kind of pulled it off, and all of James and Lily’s friends loved her - but because she’d spent so much time around teenagers over the years, she knew them like the back of her hand. Albus knew that his mum would suss him and his crush out straight away if she insisted on spending any amount of time with him and Scorpius whilst they were together.

Hoping for some sort of miracle, or at the very least a minor level emergency that would take all four other Potters out of the house for the entire afternoon, Albus quickly showered and changed after practice, not wanting to keep Scorpius waiting too long. He’d intended to finish first for once, and have time to catch the tail end of Scorpius’s rehearsal - but with it being only a week until the finals, Coach had kept him back for an extra half an hour, going over and over some blocking defences that Albus was sure he was going to dream about from now until next Saturday.

Scrubbing his hair with a towel so it was at least semi-dry, Albus stuffed his kit into his bag and practically ran out to the entrance hall. Scorpius was leaning against the wall near the doors, and Albus’s breath caught as he saw what Scorpius was wearing, and then realised how much he wanted to scoop his friend up and kiss him senseless whilst he was wearing it.

Scorpius in his tight black jeans was fit, whereas Scorpius in zig-zag print loose cotton dungarees was…. absolutely, utterly, adorable. And _so_ cool. Way cooler and more adorable than anyone else would look in that outfit. Albus himself would look like an overgrown toddler, or perhaps a clown, but Scorpius just looked cosy. Cosy and cool and adorable, and it was all a bit too much, to be honest, and Albus was glad he’d recently had a hot shower to blame his flushed skin on because the blush he was experiencing right then and there was akin to a localised heatwave across his own face.

Hearing Albus’s footsteps, Scorpius looked up from his phone and grinned, and Albus’s stomach did that swooping thing again. He’d never get used to that smile, even if he and Scorpius managed to stay ‘just friends’ for a decade.

“Albus! Hey.” Scorpius stood up straight, pushing his long hair out of his eyes. He was wearing it loose today, and it really suited him.

“Scorp, so sorry for the wait - Coach got a bee in his bonnet about this move and made me do it fifty million times -”

“No worries” said Scorpius easily. “I was just messing around on Tumblr.”

“You have a Tumblr?” Albus teased, smiling so Scorpius would know he was joking. “Isn’t that like, so 2012?”

“Shut up, Mr Albus-I’m-So-Edgy Potter” Scorpius said, poking Albus in the ribs as they headed for the car park. “Just because you’re apparently now too cool for the best microblogging platform on the planet doesn’t mean everyone gave up on it.”

“Hey, I’m not the one with an aesthetic blog” Albus replied, nudging Scorpius back.

“Aesthetic blog? I’m truly offended,” said Scorpius in mock horror. “Do you even know me?”

“Apparently too well” Albus joked, laughing. Scorpius really was the cutest person he’d ever met.

“ _Apparently_ not well enough, because IF you cared to follow me with your secret Tumblr account that I definitely know you still have, you’d know that I exclusively reblog perfectly edited gifs of critically renowned musical theatre productions.”

“Musicals? God, Lily is really gonna love you,” said Albus, thinking that maybe it wouldn’t be too awkward after all for Scorpius to meet his siblings. Well, Lily anyway.

“Wassup, little brother and little brothers’ new friend,” said a familiar voice to Albus’s left. Albus spun around in horror.

“James! What are you doing here? I thought Dad was picking us up?”

“Dad decided to stay behind and help Mum with a roast. Apparently, this family makes an effort when people come round on Sundays”, said James, smirking at the horrified look on Albus’s face.

“Dad’s helping to cook? Bloody hell. Scorp, I’m so sorry for whatever he gives you. Just… try and eat the not burnt bits. And hope that Mum’s done the Yorkshires.”

“So….” said James, interrupting Albus’s plea and leaning towards Scorpius. “Scorp, is it? Nice to meet you. I’m James, Albus’s better looking brother.”

Albus didn’t know whether to try and hide or punch James, and settled for opening the car door rather too aggressively. “It’s Scorpius, and don’t be a twat” he said, throwing himself into the back seat and cursing Harry’s sudden culinary desires.

“Nice to meet you too, James,” Scorpius smiled, holding out his hand. James took it, whistling.

“Oooh, Albus, I like this one. A proper gentleman. Keep him around, won’t you?”

Albus was going to die in this car. He was literally going to expire, sat there in the backseat whilst his brother and his - best friend? New friend? - murdered him.

Glancing over as Scorpius settled himself into the other backseat, Albus was surprised to see him looking almost as pink as Albus knew he himself was. Scorpius didn’t look back at Albus, instead choosing to fiddle with his seatbelt for an inordinately long time.

“So Al, how was practice? All set for the big day?” James asked from the front, seemingly oblivious to the sudden awkwardness as he navigated towards the ring road.

“I guess,” answered Albus shortly, grateful for the distraction, though still annoyed at James for his teasing.

“Remember our deal, yeah?” James met Albus’s eyes through the rear view mirror. “You have to win, or I’ll be pulling overtime shifts for a month.”

“We don’t have a ‘deal’, James,” Albus said, exasperated. “I don’t care about your bet with Teddy. Just give him free drinks at the pub or something.”

“Alas, Teddy already benefits from the James Sirius Potter bar tab” James smirked, “Though don’t ever tell my boss that.”

Albus rolled his eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”

James just laughed, and directed his next question at Scorpius. “So figure skating, yeah? What’s that like?”

“Um, fun?” Scorpius ventured, looking a bit surprised to have been called on. “Hard. Tiring. Complicated. A lot.”

“Sounds like it,” James laughed again. “So you have a competition coming up soon as well right?”

“Yes, the regional championships,” said Scorpius, and although Albus could tell this was the last thing Scorpius wanted to talk about, his friend was nothing if not polite. “Next Sunday, actually. The day after Albus’s match. It’s a bit weird, because it’s being held at the last venue my Dad skated at himself. He got injured there, so it’ll be strange for him to go back.”

Albus could tell that Scorpius was also thinking how strange it might be for him to finish his ‘career’ in the same place his Dad bowed out. Hurrying to save his friend from a potentially awkward situation, Albus interjected with the first thing he thought of.

“Scorpius’s dad and mum used to skate. They were really good. His dad might even have known our dad!”

“They weren’t, like, Olympians or anything,” Scorpius added as James whistled. “I’m not, you know, in the championships because of nepotism.”

“Relax, Scorp - I can call you Scorp, right? - I wouldn’t think you were for a second,” James said easily. “Albus said you’re an incredible skater, and besides, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of nepotism, as long as it’s used to break rules and not uphold them. I’m pretty sure they only let me stay with the Steelers so long because of our own Dad.”

“That’s not true,” Albus argued, earlier annoyance at James forgotten. Some conversations demanded sibling loyalty, and this was one of them. “You were amazing. I still can’t believe the Seniors didn’t recruit you.”

“Ahh, it’s fine, little brother,” said James, sweeping his hand through the air. “I’m over it. You’re the real talent. Just promise me you won’t forget me when you’re famous.”

Albus snorted, all traces of seriousness gone. “Fat chance of that. Nobody in their right mind could forget you, even if they wanted to.”

“Aww, brotherly love,” James sang, laughing at Albus in the mirror. 

Albus looked over at Scorpius again, who was grinning away at the exchange. He rolled his eyes in James’s direction, resisting the urge to reach over and take Scorpius’s hand, or do something equally as soppy and uncalled for.

Scorpius seemed like he was coping fine so far, even after two of his top three least-desired conversation starters had come up already. If Scorpius could deal with that, and James, Albus actually had hope for the rest of the afternoon.

\--------

“More potatoes, Scorpius?” Harry asked, holding the tray over Scorpius’s plate.

“Oh, er, yes please, Mr Potter,” Scorpius smiled, “They’re absolutely delicious.”

“Call me Harry, Scorpius, honestly. And thank you! I think it’s rather hard to mess up potatoes, isn’t it?” He piled another five on top of Scorpius’s half eaten roast.

On Scorpius’s other side, Albus snorted. He’d seen his dad ruin beans on toast before, but if Scorpius was enjoying himself, that was all that mattered. They’d sat down to eat almost as soon as they walked in, leaving no time to show Scorpius around and only five minutes for a rushed set of introductions, but Scorpius was handling the Potter chaos like a trooper. Lily had literally squealed upon spotting Scorpius’s dungarees, and demanded to know where he got them before before she’d even said hello. Scorpius had seemed a bit shellshocked, but grinned when Lily went on to say he’d inspired her to create a whole new ‘collection’, whatever that meant.

Harry and Ginny had been too busy transferring pots and pans and dishes between the kitchen and dining room to say more than a hurried hello to Scorpius, but now they were all sitting down together the conversation flowed easily. Harry had quizzed Scorpius about skating, but luckily not for too long, and wrinkled his nose as he tried to remember whether he’d ever actually met Scorpius’s dad back in the day. Ginny wanted to know all about Scorpius’s life before he moved, and how he was settling in to Yorkshire - Albus worried that too much mention of Scorpius’s old home and his mum would be hard to handle, but Scorpius still seemed totally fine, and chatted away with Ginny about Astoria and her garden and how in a way he’d actually looked forward to the new house and a new start. 

Albus himself was content to just sit and listen, letting his family get their fill of the newcomer in their midst, and enjoying hearing Scorpius talk about himself. Some of what his friend was new to him as well, and more than once he found himself wishing he’d known Scorpius for longer - although of course that made no sense, because how could they have even met unless Scorpius had only just moved here?

Smiling to himself, Albus glanced up and saw James smirking at him from across the table. He blushed. He fancied he knew exactly what the expression on his brothers’ face meant; James had always been good at reading people, and as Albus was unfortunately starting to realise, he himself was apparently an open book. He prayed that James wouldn’t say anything else weird or embarrassing, that eluded to Scorpius being his boyfriend or date, because if the rest of his family got started on that they wouldn’t leave it alone - though to Albus’s surprise, James had being uncharacteristically quiet since they’d got home, evidently preferring the silent torture method. 

Lily, on the other hand, had taken to Scorpius even quicker than Albus had expected, and when Harry and Ginny had finished interrogating him Lily had jumped straight back in, chattering away about nothing and everything as the rest of them cleared their plates. It had been an exceptionally good roast, even including Harry’s rather soggy roast potatoes, and Albus felt full and happy and sleepy as they all finally laid their knives and forks down. His mind wandered, and he almost let himself imagine that Scorpius really was his boyfriend, and that this was a regular Sunday occurrence. 

“So where is your competition being held then?” Harry asked Scorpius, dragging Albus out of his fantasy.

“Manchester, at the MediaCity rink” Scorpius answered, sitting back in his chair and looking a bit nervous. “It’s a nice place. So much bigger than Sheffield though.”

“And it’s on Sunday?” Harry prodded, though he already knew that from asking Scorpius about it earlier.

“Yep. Sorry, yes. Starts at 11am, though I think my category won’t skate until 3ish.”

Albus wondered where his dad was going with this. Surely he wasn’t going to - 

“And can family and friends go? You know, as spectators?”

Oh god. He was. Albus opened his mouth, ready to save Scorpius, but before he could say anything the blond answered.

“Yes, anyone can go. It’s open to the public, though obviously we don’t usually get that many crowds at the Junior level comps. It’s usually just skaters’ parents and retired dancers and people like that.”

“Would you object if we came?”

Albus choked. His dad had actually done it. And not only that, he’d said “we”. Meaning all of them. He’d really invited the whole Potter clan to something Scorpius didn’t even want to go to himself.

Though, as much as he was cringing for his friend, Albus couldn’t deny that as soon as Harry had said it, Albus wanted nothing more in the world than to go and support Scorpius. It made sense, especially given what he knew. But would Scorpius want him there? Would he want all of them there? Surely he’d have already asked them himself, if he did?

“Scorpius, we don’t -” Albus tried, before Scorpius cut him off with a smile.

“Wow, are you sure? I’d love that, Mr Potter. Honestly. And Dad will be glad to have some company. He always gets a bit edgy waiting around on his own.”

Albus couldn’t believe it. He tried to catch his friends eye, but Scorpius was still looking at Harry, and contrary to Albus’s expectation, he did actually seem OK with everything. 

“That’s settled then,” said Harry. “Any friend of Albus’s is a friend of ours.”

Lily loudly voiced her assent and James just shrugged, sneaking another smirk in Albus’s direction.

“Now, just let me know when you want driving back today, Scorpius - though give me an hour or so to digest this feast!” Harry added, grinning and rubbing his stomach.

“We were gonna hang here for a while, watch a few films,” Albus said, looking again at Scorpius to check he was still alright with that. “So maybe, like, six?”

“Six good with you Scorpius?” Harry asked.

“Perfect” Scorpius agreed.

“Right then. Whose turn is it to wash up? James, you did taxi duty, so Lils, I think your number’s up,” Ginny interjected, smirking at the exaggerated groan and eye roll from her youngest child.

“We’ll help, I don’t mind helping!” Scorpius said, and Lily grinned at him before looking straight at Albus and unknowingly repeating her oldest brother’s words from earlier that day.

“Oh Albus, I like him. He can stay.”

Blushing and refusing to meet anyone’s eye, Albus nodded briefly and started gathering plates. Beside him, Scorpius grabbed a few glasses, and they both followed Lily into the kitchen. 

Luckily, neither of them noticed Harry and James smirk at each other behind Albus’s back, or see Ginny hit her husband on the arm, gesturing to him to keep quiet and leave his middle son with his very obvious crush alone.

\----------

After washing up, Albus led Scorpius up to his room, giving a very quick tour of the house as they went. The Potter’s living room was crammed with photos, blankets, old cups of tea, plates of half eaten snacks and clothes of all shapes and sizes draped over every surface, and whilst it wasn’t as aesthetically ‘matchy’ as Scorpius’s own living room, Albus loved it all the same. His house may be loud and full, but it was also cosy and comforting, and Albus always felt safe there, even if on the surface it looked like pure chaos. 

He couldn’t quite remember why he’d been so nervous about inviting Scorpius round; his friend had immediately seemed fit in, and Albus hadn’t had to excuse or apologise for anything bar his Dad's crazy idea about going to Manchester - which he couldn’t even really be mad at, not after seeing how pleased it had made Scorpius, and not after feeling his own heart almost beat its way out of his chest at the thought of it.

On the Potter’s staircase, Scorpius kept stopping to stare at all the photos of Al and James and Lily over the years; Al and James getting progressively taller, and Lily’s outfits getting progressively brighter. Albus and James could have been twins with their identical shock of black messy hair and similar builds, although Lily was and always had been the spitting image of her mum - pale, freckled and with a mane of long red hair that she always seemed to wear in some kind of twisted braid, held in place by rainbow coloured clips and scrunchies.

“You were so cute as a baby, Albus. What happened?” Scorpius teased, turning to Albus as they reached the landing.

“Oi” Albus laughed, knocking against Scorpius. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m adorable.”

“You are,” said Scorpius, suddenly sounding serious, but still smiling at Albus like it was all just a joke.

Once again, Albus had no idea what to do with a comment like that. Scorpius had managed to short circuit his brain, and he tried desperately to read between the lines of what his friend - emphasis on the friend - probably meant, what he could have meant, and what Albus wanted him to mean.

“So, er, this is my room,” he said, ducking his head to try and hide his blush as he opened his bedroom door. “Lily is next to me, and James is opposite. Mum and Dad have the attic room above us.”

“Wow” Scorpius said, stopping dead in Albus’s doorway. “I really didn’t expect you to be so… tidy.”

Albus’s room was the polar opposite of Scorpius’s in every way. His bed stood neatly made against the wall, his desk was minimally decorated with his laptop, a water bottle and a pair of speakers, and the rest of his furniture was clean and simple. Albus only had a few framed prints on his wall, and the only bit of real colour was a bright red rug covering most of the floor, which Scorpius immediately scrunched his toes into.

“Ha, yeah. I mean, if you ever see Lily’s room, you’ll understand. There was nothing left for the rest of us after she decorated,” Albus joked. 

As much as he genuinely enjoyed the general vibe of the Potter house, he’d wanted his room to be some sort of sanctuary away from the rest of them, for when he just needed peace and calm and quiet. He’d made a conscious choice to keep his room as empty as he could, as he knew that no matter how loud the rest of the house got or how stressed Albus might find himself, he could always escape up here and just be.

“I like it,” Scorpius declared, looking round. “I feel like I could do yoga in here, or something.”

“You do yoga? That’s cool. I tried once, years ago - Lily’s super into it - but I didn’t really get on with it. I couldn’t work out how to watch the screen to see how to do the poses, and actually do the poses, all at the same time, so it all felt a bit out of sync.”

Albus moved past Scorpius to sit on his bed, gesturing for Scorpius to join him.

“Oh, that’s a shame,” Scorpius said as he sat down. “You should give it another go, it’s really good for skaters. Loosens the limbs, improves flexibility and reflexes and all that. Hey, I could teach you, if you don’t like the videos?”

“Er… sure?” Albus agreed, secretly hoping Scorpius didn’t mean right then and there, because he was way too full from his roast to contemplate anything other than lounging around watching films and talking nonsense. Also, he wasn’t too sure if he’d be any better at concentrating on the poses if Scorpius was the teacher. He suspected he might actually be worse.

“Listen,” Albus added, turning to face his friend. “About what Dad said, about coming to your comp… we really don’t have to, I can talk him out of it. I know you’re gonna have a lot on your mind that day and probably just want some quiet time with your own dad…”

“Are you kidding?” Scorpius said, staring back at Albus. “It’s a brilliant plan. If your family’s there, my dad will have fun and be distracted, and will probably be in a much better mood than if he’d just hung around all day on his own. It’ll actually make it easier to talk to him afterwards. And I wasn’t gonna do it straight away anyway. I’d rather let us both have one last day of just… immersing ourselves in it all. So it’d be brilliant to have you there. Really. I’d have already asked you myself, but I figured you’d be knackered after your own match.”

“Doesn’t matter if I am,” said Albus, his heart squeezing. “If you’re seriously OK with having me there, and my whole family, then there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. I’m more than happy to come and support you.”

Scorpius smiled at that, a properly big smile which reached all the way up to his eyes, and Albus felt like he might be sick. He’d been a lot more open than he usually was, and this was so close to being a moment, and he was so desperate to know if Scorpius felt it too.

“So what do you wanna watch?” he asked, panicking and tearing his eyes away from Scorpius’s smile before it blinded him and made his heart jump right out of his chest. Reaching over to his desk, Albus pulled his laptop across to the bed. “I’ve got Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime, or James pirated loads of films years ago if none of those have anything we fancy.”

Scorpius glanced at the screen and then up at Albus again, suddenly looking a bit shy. 

“Can we watch Hamilton? I know you’ll have already seen it, everyone has, I’ve watched it like 10 times since it came out on video, but it’s my absolute favourite and I just love Jonathan Groff. Like, I am obsessed with him.”

Albus grinned. He had indeed watched Hamilton, his whole family had gathered to watch it as soon as it had hit Disney+ the month before, but he was more than happy to watch it again - both to indulge Scorpius, and because he had genuinely really enjoyed it.

“You’re on,” he said, loading up his profile. “But if you sing along, don’t be too loud, or Lily will come bursting in wanting to join us.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Scorpius smiled, shuffling up so he was leaning against Albus’s wall. 

_You might not, but I would_ , thought Albus as he clicked play. Leaning back so he was propped up by the wall as well, he made sure to get comfy, but not _too_ near to Scorpius. 

Five minutes later however, Scorpius had somehow managed to close some of the distance between them without Albus noticing, until his shoulder kept bumping against Albus’s. Albus kept his eyes focused resolutely on the screen, but he suddenly started to find it very difficult to concentrate on Aaron Burr, sir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we've seen both the Potter and Malfoy houses, I'd love to know which one you like best, and what you think about how I've imagined them!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I've borrowed a few of my fave ideas/concepts from Cursed Child in this chapter - I'd love to know if you can spot them!

The following week, Albus’s training schedule was all out of whack ahead of Saturday’s match. Instead of practicing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, they were doing Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, in order to give the players adequate rest whilst still cramming in as much time on the ice as possible. 

Yann and Coach finally seemed 100% happy with everyone’s performance, and Albus knew it would come down to two things on the day - luck, and how well prepared the Panthers were for them. Lots of other teams tended to underestimate the Steelers, despite their efforts this season, as they were all so used to seeing the Sheffield Juniors languish in the bottom half of the results table. This season was different though. This season was _it_.

Despite knowing he should be focusing full time on the match, Albus couldn’t help but think that the upcoming weekend’s hockey game would also somehow act as a fortune teller for his whatever it was with Scorpius. If the Steelers won the game, and came third overall, Albus would be riding a high for weeks to come. If Scorpius also talked to his dad, and freed himself from the thing that was making him unhappy…well. Surely two people, finally at peace and happy in their respective lives, would somehow have the courage and foresight to address what was maybe building between them?

However, if Albus’s team lost… if he couldn’t pull this off… maybe he wouldn’t want to take another risk. Maybe he wouldn’t want to open up his heart, when there was no guarantee Scorpius felt the same. 

If Albus was honest, the thought of admitting how he really felt about his friend seemed even scarier than thinking about the Panthers annihilating them. Coming so close to winning a trophy would pale into insignificance compared to missing out on a romantic relationship with Scorpius. Especially because if Albus did come clean, and had misjudged everything, he doubted that Scorpius would want to stick around as friends either. Albus would make it weird and embarrassing by admitting his feelings, and Scorpius had a history with friends and feelings and weirdness and embarrassment. It would be too much to expect him to continue another new friendship just to save Albus’s face.

Rather than wallow in his anxiety, excitement and nerves, Albus tried to fill up as much of his time outside of practice as possible. He made sure his homework was completed, cooked dinner for the rest of his family, finally did his share of the chores around the house and even offered to clean out Tofu and Quorn, Lily’s pet gerbils. He also kept up his near constant messaging with Scorpius, the only gaps in their communication being when either of them were on the ice.

At least, it had been that way until today anyway. It was now Thursday, and Albus had just got back from his final practice, expecting to see at least a handful of texts from Scorpius who had trained earlier that morning. Albus had had a full day at school followed immediately by training, but Scorpius should have been done at 3pm and free to reply to the texts Albus had sent earlier that day.

However, to Albus’s surprise, he’d opened up Whatsapp on his way home to see nothing. Not a single notification, all day. 

Frowning, Albus had clicked into their chat window, seeing that Scorpius had apparently been “last online” at 6.31am that morning. That would have been just as he arrived at the rink, if Albus didn’t know any better. It was also almost 14 hours ago, making it the longest Albus and Scorpius had gone without speaking (except for when they were both asleep) since they’d started talking just over a month ago. Albus wasn’t clingy, and he didn’t expect Scorpius to check in with him - not like _that_ , anyway - but still, it was weird not to hear from him. 

**u ok?** Albus typed out now, before deleting it and frowning down at his screen again. Was it too much to ask how Scorpius was? Did it look weird? Maybe Scorpius just forgot to charge his phone last night, and it had died without him realising. Maybe he was just really busy with something. Just because he hadn’t been online didn’t have to mean anything bad had happened. It didn’t mean Scorpius didn’t want to speak to Albus anymore.

Shaking his head and knowing he had to say something, Albus quickly typed out another message and forced himself not to overthink this one.

**just done the last sesh before sat! feeling good but tired. hbu?**

He stared down for a few minutes after the message sent, willing the grey ticks to turn blue. There were definitely two ticks, meaning that Scorpius’s phone had received the message. So it probably wasn’t out of battery somewhere. Then again, it wasn’t as if Scorpius had only been ignoring Albus, if he hadn’t been on the app at all since earlier that day. Was it?

Cursing his ridiculous thought spiral, Albus closed Whatsapp completely and put his phone in his pocket. Scorpius would either reply tonight or he wouldn’t, and Albus had done all he could to reach out. 

Pulling his laptop over to his bed, Albus plugged in his headphones and opened Spotify. It was too late to start a film, especially as Coach had waved them all off with strict instructions to get as much sleep as possible between now and Saturday. However, it wasn’t quite late enough to fall asleep yet, and Albus figured that he had time to listen to a few of his favourite musical soundtracks. That they just happened to be the songs Scorpius had mentioned were his favourite over the past few weeks had nothing to do with his choices at all.

\----------

Hours later, Albus stirred, confused and half awake. He could have sworn that he felt something buzz against him.

Yes, there it was again - what - 

His phone. He’d fallen asleep still dressed, his phone in the front pocket of his hoody where he’d put it after texting Scorpius. Fumbling around with one eye still closed, Albus extracted the phone, which buzzed yet again. He squinted at the screen.

 _Scorpius_. Scorpius had replied. 

Ignoring the fact it was one o’clock in the morning, Albus sat up straight, rubbing his eyes and stifling a yawn. Scorpius always went to bed early, especially on training days. Why on earth was he still up?

_Hey, so sorry, things have been a bit crazy here_

_Well actually a lot crazy_

_I told my dad_

_By accident_

Albus’s eyes widened. Had he read that correctly? Scorpius had… told his dad? About the thing? The thing he wasn’t gonna tell his dad about until after Sunday?

Albus watched as Scorpius’s byline said ‘typing’ on and off. He didn’t want to reply until Scorpius had told him everything. He didn’t even know how to reply.

 _Can I call you?_

_I know it’s late but it’s a lot to text_

_Sorry, by the way. About it being late. I hope I didn’t wake you up_

_Except I also kind of hope I did_

_Sorry again_

Albus responded by hitting call, not trusting himself to type anything other than a long string of exclamation marks. Scorpius picked up on the first ring.

“Albus? God, I’m so glad you’re awake -”

Scorpius’s voice was muffled, a bit like he’d been crying, but he also sounded… happy?

“Scorpius, what’s… what happened? Are you OK?” 

Albus spoke urgently, only remembering at the last second to keep his voice down.

“I’m fine, I’m good. Really good! It was… wow, it’s been a weird day. And I’m so sorry for not texting you, then for texting you so late, but I just needed to -”

“It’s fine, Scorp, honestly. Really. So… your dad knows then? And it’s alright?”

“Yeah.” Scorpius exhaled. “It’s more than alright! He… he was amazing. Well at first he was shocked, but then he was amazing. Wait, I need to tell you the whole thing properly. Is that OK? I can call you back in the morning if you’d prefer?”

“Don’t you dare,” said Albus, sitting up fully and bringing his knees up to his chest. “I want to know everything. Now.”

“Right.” Scorpius was smiling, Albus could hear it through the phone. He smiled too, so widely his face hurt. He couldn’t believe it.

“So. Yeah. We went to practice this morning, and I guess I got a bit emotional, I dunno, with it suddenly being so close to the championships. Because it was going really good! Dad had no comments, I had the routine nailed, and I just went to work through a few spins at the end to make sure I was lining my knees up properly every time, and then I just… started crying?”

Albus swallowed a laugh at how Scorpius had framed it as a question.

“Shit. I imagine that was… hard to explain?”

“Just a bit! I mean, _I_ didn’t even know why I was crying! And then, I just kind of sat down where I was, and my bum got really wet and cold, and Dad was like, so confused, and I was half crying and half laughing because it all was so fucking weird Albus, it really was - and then Dad came onto the ice, like right there next to me, even though he was only wearing his shoes.”

Albus pictured the scene, and whilst he obviously didn’t like to think of Scorpius having a breakdown, he couldn’t help but giggle at the image of Mr Malfoy gingerly picking his way over the ice in his posh leather loafers.

“So then Dad like, crouched down next to me, and he was holding my shoulder really awkwardly, and he asked if it was nerves, and that just made me laugh even more, but I was still sobbing, so I must have looked a right sight. No wonder Dad didn’t know what to do. So he decides to sit down - like, he actually sits down, next to me, even though it was freezing and his clothes cost like, a fortune. And he starts saying all this stuff about how I was amazing, how he was proud of me, how he knew I was going to place, but even if I didn’t that he was proud of me anyway, and he knew Mum would be too, and that’s when I just completely lost it.”

Scorpius took a moment, breathing deeply. Albus waited for him to collect himself before continuing.

“As soon as he mentioned Mum it just all came out. I told him I couldn’t do this anymore, that I didn’t want to do it anymore. I said how I felt that I was only skating because of Mum, and him I guess, and that whilst I obviously love them and used to love it, my heart just isn’t in it anymore, and I don’t want to live a lie.”

Albus whistled softly. He could only imagine how stressful the whole experience must have been for Scorpius, and he was so proud of his friend for telling the truth, even if it wasn’t the perfectly orchestrated conversation he’d planned.

“Yeah. Like I said, it was a lot. I think I said a bunch of other stuff too, like begging him not to hate me or punish me, I can’t really remember everything, but then Dad went really quiet and sort of stiff and pulled his arm away and I thought, oh shit I’ve done it. I’ve ruined his life. Broken his heart, everything I feared.”

Albus grimaced, feeling how much Mr Malfoy’s reaction would have hurt Scorpius in the moment.

“But then, he sort of shushed me, and just sat there for ages, looking down at his hands and fiddling with his wedding ring. I thought I was going to throw up or something, so I made to get up, get off the ice you know, but then he grabbed me and kinda tugged me back down. I looked at him and saw that he was crying too, so that set me off again, because I thought I’d made my Dad cry, but then he smiled at me. And he said he was even more proud of me. Proud! Of me!”

There it was again, that astonished smile that Albus could hear across the airwaves. His stomach flipped as he imagined the expression on Scorpius’s face at the other end of the line.

“So I was just sat there across from him, not saying anything because I was so shocked, and then Dad gave kind of a speech himself about he knew how hard it must have been to admit that, and how I could never disappoint him, and that he was only ever so enthusiastic about my skating because he thought I wanted it too. And then he said… he said that I was the bravest person he knew, after Mum, and that there must be even more of her in me than he thought. So then I obviously started bawling again.”

Albus couldn’t ignore the lump in his own throat at the emotion in Scorpius’s words.

“Wow, Scorp,” said Albus thickly. “That’s… that’s so, so great. I’m so happy for you. I don’t know what to say.”

“I know!! I didn’t know what to say to Dad either, after that. I just kinda launched myself at him and we had a really long hug, and it was really nice even though it was obviously super awkward and cold and wet and we both ended up just laughing and yeah. I was so relieved I could have sang. So then we finally got up, and I got changed, and he brought me home instead of going to school, and we’ve just spent the whole day talking. About everything. Dad agreed I should still do the comp on Sunday, but said afterwards, I could take a break for as long as I wanted. Forever, if that was my choice. And we chatted about Mum loads, which was really nice, as we barely ever talk about her properly. Then we both fell asleep straight after tea, I think we were emotionally exhausted, and I only just woke up and saw all your messages!”

Albus was so happy he was surprised Scorpius couldn’t hear his grin through the phone line. He’d obviously never have guessed that this was the reason Scorpius hadn’t been in touch all day, but now he knew, he couldn’t believe he’d been so worried about such stupid and trivial things earlier. Scorpius was clearly better than fine, and what’s more, he was free. He’d done it. And he clearly still wanted to talk to Albus. He’d messaged him at 1am, instead of just waiting until the next day like a normal person. And they were now on the actual proper phone together. At 1am. 

As Albus chatted to Scorpius about how pleased he was and how glad Scorpius no longer had any secrets, he couldn’t help but wish he too could unburden himself of his secret too - but like on the day they went to Wagamamas, he knew now definitely wasn’t the time. Scorpius had had an extremely full-on day, and had clearly reached a pivotal moment in his life and relationship with his dad. Albus wasn’t going to pile another thing on him by admitting his feelings, no matter how much he wanted to or how much their conversation felt like the late night mumblings of a real couple.

Instead, he forced himself to be content with knowing that Mr Malfoy clearly didn’t blame Albus for Scorpius’s waned interest in skating, and obviously hadn’t done anything ridiculous like order Scorpius not to talk to him anymore. Not that he ever thought the older man would, after meeting him, but it was still a relief after what he knew about Scorpius’s… ex? No. Ex-friend?

Pushing thoughts of Scorpius and ex-whatevers out of his mind, Albus settled back down into bed, curling around his phone as Scorpius happily prattled on about something random. Albus didn’t care that Scorpius had just woken up from a six hour nap, whilst Albus himself had only got a few hours sleep. He’d listen to his friend talk until morning, if Scorpius wanted to. Coach be damned.

\----------

The next morning, Albus was shattered. He’d stayed on the phone with Scorpius until almost 2.30am, when he’d literally fallen asleep on the line and woken a minute later to find Scorpius shouting his name and laughing, demanding he hang up and get some rest. Albus had fallen straight back asleep with a huge smile on his face, knowing he was probably setting his heart up for a fall but not finding it in himself to care at that precise point in time. Whether or not Scorpius liked him that way or not, there was no one else Albus would have willingly sacrificed that much sleep for, let alone on a match week, and he was in way too deep to reign his feelings in now.

As he worked his way through a double portion of Weetabix for breakfast, his dad insisting he keep his strength up, he thought again about what he was going to do. About himself, about Scorpius, about them. He knew he had to say something, and soon - if he didn’t do it on purpose, it’d shortly be obvious. He was finding it harder and harder to treat Scorpius as ‘just’ a friend, both when talking to Scorpius himself and when talking about him. 

He was 100% sure James was already well aware of how Albus felt, but then again, James would have probably joked about it even if he didn’t truly believe it - it was just how James was. Karl was the same, he’d wind Albus up even if he knew there was nothing there. Yann didn’t tease, but given that he basically forced Albus into talking to Scorpius in the first place, Albus had a strong suspicion that his captain had also read him like a book from the very beginning.

Ugh. Albus had forgotten how messy crushes were. They were even worse when so many people were invested in the outcome. Even Albus’s dad was clearly open to having Scorpius around, after offering to trail him all the way to Manchester after meeting him once. Albus knew he should still be embarrassed by that, and he was, a bit, but his overwhelming emotion when he thought about his family joining Scorpius’s dad at the rink on Sunday was one of pure joy and contentment. This was exactly the kind of thing he allowed himself to imagine, when fantasising about Scorpius being his boyfriend and the two families coming together more often.

James rudely interrupted Albus’s musings by throwing a piece of Pop Tart at him across the table, laughing when the tiny chunk hit Albus right in the middle of his forehead.

“So what about Sunday then, we gotta wear black tie to meet your boyfriend's dad or what?”

Albus blushed fiercely, wishing he could lob a spoonful of soggy Weetabix back across the table at James’s smirking face.

“Fuck off James. He’s not my boyfriend, and no you don’t. You don’t even have to come. In fact, please don’t.”

“Hey!” Ginny said, interjecting before things became a full blown Potter brothers brawl. “That’s enough, from both of you. Al, don’t swear at the breakfast table. James, don’t tease your brother. And don’t throw food. Where did you even get that thing? I thought we were cutting out sugar?”

James just grinned.

“You can cut out whatever you like, Mum, but I’m a growing boy. I need all my macros.”

Ginny snorted. “You need to stop spending your wages on overpriced imported sweets. Or have they given you a raise at the pub?”

James scowled, and it was Albus’s turn to smirk. He wasn’t a huge fan of his Mum’s war on sugar either, but seeing James get called out for his contraband Pop Tarts was incredibly satisfying.

“Speaking of Sunday, is there anything else we need to know, Albus?”

Albus swallowed, and hesitated. Should he tell his mum what Scorpius had done yesterday? Did she even need to know? Albus wasn’t sure whether it mattered to Scorpius who knew about his plan to stop skating after tomorrow; he’d only mentioned being afraid of telling his own dad. Now Mr Malfoy knew, would Scorpius be OK with it being common knowledge?

He hedged on the side of caution.

“I don’t think so. Scorpius said it’s usually just a lot of hanging around. Him and his dad are going for the start, obviously, but he said we don’t have to.”

“And he’s skating at 3pm?”

“Yeah, thereabouts. I don’t think it’s exact.”

“Fine. I think it’ll be best if we have an early lunch here then, and drive over straight afterwards. That way we won’t make him nervous hanging around all morning, but we won’t miss him.”

Ginny sounded decisive, and Albus knew better than to argue, even if a large part of him wanted to go as early as possible too, and maximise the time he had hanging out with Scorpius.

“Are we still going out for tea afterwards Mum?” Lily piped up, scraping the crusts of her toast in the bin.

Ginny nodded. “Definitely, unless Mr Malfoy and Scorpius have other plans. Although I guess we could still go just us, even so. It’ll be nice not to have to rush home and cook.”

“Great!” Lily grinned. “I’ve been looking up recommendations and I’ve found a really cool vegan restaurant. Can we check it out?”

“Maybe, Lils,” said Ginny, sounding like she was holding back a laugh. “But maybe we should let Scorpius choose, if we all go together?”

“Sure!” said Lily, not at all put out. “I bet I can talk him into The Allotment. It seems up his street.”

Albus looked down at his own half eaten breakfast and tried to hide a smile, oddly touched that Lily felt like she knew what Scorpius’s ‘street’ was after meeting him once. Scorpius really did seem to have made an impression on his family, and he couldn’t help but hope the Malfoys were indeed willing to celebrate together on Sunday evening, whatever the outcome of Scorpius’s category. Albus knew that after what happened yesterday, Scorpius would feel like celebrating either way. And if they all had a good time… if everyone was relaxed and open and in a good mood… maybe Albus really would work up the courage to say something. If he could get any alone time with Scorpius.

Groaning, he emptied what was left of his Weetabix on top of Lily’s crusts, and followed his sister back upstairs to grab his school stuff. He definitely shouldn’t be letting his imagination wander into ‘alone time with Scorpius’ when he needed to leave the house imminently.

\----------

“Albus, bed early tonight OK? Have you done your stretches?”

Harry popped his head around Albus’s door that evening, finding his youngest son curled up in the corner where the bed met the wall.

“Yeah Dad, I know. I’m just gonna read a few more chapters. And yeah, I did them straight after school.”

Harry nodded. “That’s good. How’re you feeling?”

Albus shrugged. “Mostly alright. I think we’ve got a good chance. But I don’t wanna get my hopes up too much, you know?”

Harry came into Albus’s room, sitting on the edge of his bed.

“I do know. But I also know you’ve got the strongest team in years. And the Panthers are likely to underestimate you. Just don’t lose your nerve, any of you, and you’ll have this in the bag.”

Albus gave his dad a small smile. Harry reached out and ruffled his hair, making Albus laugh and blush.

“Gerrof, Dad, it’s already a mess.”

“It’s the Potter genes,” grinned Harry, pointing at his own mop, which was cut slightly shorter than Albus’s but still had strands sticking up and down all over.

“Yeah, thanks for that Dad,” groaned Albus, trying his best to flatten his hair back down.

“Maybe you should grow it even longer, Al. Like Scorpius. Then you could tie it up too.”

Albus immediately blushed at the thought of Scorpius’s cute top knot. Looking up, he caught his Dad smiling knowingly, before Harry rearranged his face into a more neutral expression.

“It’s a shame Scorpius can’t come to the match tomorrow. What did you say he was doing instead?”

“Just resting, I think. He said he and his dad have like, a pre-comp ritual or something. But I’ll call him as soon as I’m done.”

Harry smiled again. “He’s a good kid. At least you’ll see him on Sunday. And I’m looking forward to meeting Draco, and seeing if it really is the Draco Malfoy I vaguely remember.”

“It can’t be a common name, surely?” Albus asked. “Especially with the skating connection?”

“True. It’ll be good to get properly introduced either way. Might be nice to have a mate from our world, ish!”

Albus swallowed, trying not to give anything away. He still didn’t know how Scorpius wanted to go about exiting skating, temporarily or permanently, so he couldn’t exactly tell his Dad that he didn’t know if Mr Malfoy would still be ‘around’ in that way after Sunday.

“Anyway,” Harry said, saving Albus from having to answer at all. “You’ll be great tomorrow kid. Get some rest, and I’ll whip up a special breakfast in the morning. You alright to leave at 11?”

The match didn’t start until 1pm, but Harry and Albus always liked to get to the rink early on game days. You never knew what the motorway traffic would be like, and Albus preferred to sit around feeling sick in his kit than sit around feeling sick at home.

“Sure. Thanks, Dad. See you in the morning.”

Harry ruffled Albus’s hair again, causing Albus to scowl and smile at the same time. Grinning at his son, Harry left, pulling the door closed on his way out.

Albus rested his head back against the wall, nerves starting to swirl again in his stomach. In a way, he had Scorpius to thank for distracting him so thoroughly that he hadn’t been as anxious as usual about this match. On the other hand, now it was the night before, he was worried that he’d been too distracted and not anxious enough - getting complacent would be the worst, and if he let the rest of the team down because he’d been too busy thinking about Scorpius, then he’d never forgive himself. 

Albus knew he was good, knew he was ready - but being confident was James’s thing, not his. _Though look where confidence got him_ , Albus argued with himself, before immediately brushing the thought aside, feeling disloyal. James had been good - but the team they had now was better. It wasn’t big-headed to think so, but Albus also knew he couldn’t rely on their form at practice. They needed to play with everything they had tomorrow, and expect to work harder than ever.

Because of that, he finished the chapter he was currently reading, found an old receipt on his bedside table to use as a bookmark, and changed into his pyjamas. He really wanted to text Scorpius, but he didn’t have anything particular to say, and he knew if he did get in touch there was a chance the two of them would get carried away and stay up far too late again.

With regret, Albus turned his light off before climbing back into bed. He had nine hours before he needed to get up. Hopefully that meant nine hours of deep, restful sleep, and not nine hours tossing and turning, thinking about Scorpius and the Panthers until his brain burst.

\----------

Albus woke up before his alarm the next morning, feeling like he'd been doused in cold water. The match day fear had arrived with a vengeance, and he felt slightly sick as he pulled on some joggers and an old t-shirt and made his way downstairs.

To his surprise, James was already sat at the table, munching on another round of Pop Tarts.

“Don’t let Mum see you with those again,” mumbled Albus, as James looked up and smirked.

“Want any? I’ve got two left, and you could probably do with a sugar hit.”

“Nah, I’m gonna wait for Dad to get up. He promised to make something.”

“Oooo, I hope it’s pancakes,” James said, with a dreamy look on his face. “I could murder a stack of pancakes. They're the only thing Dad ever does well.”

That made Albus smile. “Sometimes I think Mum might have a point, with all her no sugar stuff. How are you not bouncing off the walls?”

James leaned back, chewing on his Pop Tart. “Between my late nights at the pub and my early morning lectures, I figured I needed either sugar or caffeine to survive this year. Sugar’s tastier.”

Albus shook his head fondly at James’s logic. He filled the kettle up and switched it on before pulling out a chair and collapsing into it.

“Speak for yourself. Coffee is the elixir of gods.”

“Wouldn’t have thought you’d need any today, little bro,” said James, finishing his pre-breakfast snack and tipping himself all the way back on his chair as he eyed Albus. “Aren’t you high as a kite off nerves?”

Albus grimaced, which James took to be a yes.

“You don’t need to worry dude. You’re gonna nail it.”

It was rare that James was so honest and serious, and Albus appreciated it. James had joked around a lot that he only cared about the Steelers winning so that Teddy owed him £50 instead of the other way around, but Albus knew that his older brother had his back.

Hearing noises from upstairs, followed by heavy footsteps coming down the hallway, Albus stood up and started pulling mugs out of the cupboard, filling two with coffee and one with a teabag. His Dad came into the kitchen a few seconds later, grinning.

“Great, you’re both up. Who wants pancakes?”

\----------

Harry and Albus set off at bang on 11am, leaving James and Lily and their Mum to follow in James’s car a little later on. Albus sat in the front, his kit bag slung over the back seat, twisting his phone around over and over in his hands. Scorpius had text as Albus was inhaling a stack of pancakes, and Albus had replied as soon as he’d demolished them. It had been a short exchange, mainly featuring emojis - Scorpius sending the crossed fingers and the hockey stick and the snowflake and the trophy, and Albus the grimacing face and the nauseous face and the upside down smiley. Even so, it had made him feel slightly happier to have heard from his friend.

The drive to Sheffield seemed to take no time at all, and all too soon Harry was unloading Albus’s kit bag and holding open his son’s car door. Albus walked into the rink feeling like his limbs were made of lead, and for a few moments when he saw the Zamboni cleaning the ice in preparation for the match, he regretted eating so many pancakes.

Albus quickly changed into his gear, leaving off his pads and helmet, then sat in the changing room waiting for his teammates to show up. As usual, the Potters were the first ones there, and as usual Albus found himself wishing that Karl and Craig and Yann would arrive soon, if only to distract him from the thoughts and nerves swilling around in his own brain.

He didn’t know how long he’d been there when he heard a buzz come from the pile of clothes he’d heaped up on the bench next to him. Scrabbling around, Albus found his phone and unlocked the screen, smiling as soon as he saw Scorpius’s name flash up again.

He felt his heart thump painfully as he opened Whatsapp, and realised Scorpius had sent him a selfie. It was of him and his Dad in their living room, Scorpius sat on the sofa and Mr Malfoy stood behind him, bending down so his face was in shot. Both of them were grinning. Scorpius was holding his phone with one hand, but in the other he had a piece of A4 card turned to face the camera. Zooming in, Albus felt a blush rise up his neck, and he suddenly found it a bit hard to breathe.

Scorpius had drawn Albus in charcoal, in a rough approximation of the Steelers kit, one hand holding a hockey stick loosely by his side, the other raised into the air and holding a trophy. It was absolutely incredible and utterly beautiful, and Albus had the horrible realisation as he looked at it that he might start crying.

He continued to stare at the sketch as he typed back, wondering how Scorpius had known exactly how to say good luck in the most perfect and meaningful way, without seeming cringey or insincere. He barely knew what to put in return - how could he thank Scorpius properly for _that_? - and as he pressed send, he realised he also felt much better in general. The nerves were still there, but Albus didn’t feel sick any longer, and rather than it seeming like his limbs were heavier than usual, they were suddenly as light as air.

Albus was still floating when the rest of his team crashed into the changing room in twos and threes, shouting and clapping each other on the back and lobbing laces and polish across the floor to each other as they kitted up and got ready.

He marched out onto the ice when the initial whistle blew half an hour later with the same silly smile still plastered on his face, and he didn’t care who noticed it. 

Listening to the pep talk from Coach, he felt a new source of determination seep through his veins. He had a game to win, a friend to impress, and a drawing to emulate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lily is quickly becoming my favourite character to develop and write, and I half wish I'd made this fic even longer so she could be in it more... (though I may or may not be already planning a sequel!)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although I have watched and enjoyed a handful of ice hockey games in my life, I'm by no means an expert so if there are any mistakes or inconsistencies in the below description of an actual match then I can only apologise. Once again, I've taken a few liberties with the details, but hopefully they stand up to scrutiny within the rules and universe of this fic!
> 
> There is also some very tame underage drinking mentioned in this chapter, for anyone who needs a warning for that (Albus has a few beers with his family, in a safe and controlled environment. He is 17 years old at the time of events.)

After the first twenty minute period, the Steelers were up four goals to three. Albus and the rest of the team were playing flat out, better than they ever had in practice, but the Panthers were good. Possession was just about equal, and Albus was starting to get nervous again, blaming himself for all three of the Panthers goals even though he wasn’t the only barrier between them and the net.

In the break, Coach and Yann both said the same thing - lean into the offence, and don’t lose their heads when the Panthers inevitably score. The game was never going to be a floor sweep, and the best the Steelers could do was to make sure they had as many, if not more, opportunities to send the puck past the opposing goalie. Trying to stop the Panthers from scoring at all was futile.

Feeling slightly better, Albus went into the second period with a renewed sense of vigour - but given they were one goal down, so did the Panthers. Albus fought tooth and nail to fling the puck away from his section of the ice, but the Panthers’ front line were formidable. When the whistle blew to signal the second break, the Panthers had managed to match the Steelers goal for goal, and both teams now stood at seven. It would all come down to the final period.

Whilst his teammates were repositioning their mouth guards and tightening their pads, Albus stole a look at the stands. His family always sat halfway along the pitch, so they could see as much as possible - and yes, there they were. His Dad and James were leaning forward, heads resting on their matching clasped hands, both looking nervous, whilst Ginny was sitting back in her seat, her shoulders tight. Lily was chewing the end of a paper straw, completely ignoring the drink it was standing in, and staring right at Albus. 

Catching her brother’s eye, Lily waved, and Albus held up a gloved hand. Ginny noticed too and waved back, nudging Harry, and both he and James gave Albus a thumbs up and crossed fingers respectively. Albus knew his family wanted him to win as much as he did, and he knew he couldn’t bear to see four disappointed faces in twenty minutes’ time. Even worse was the thought of Scorpius’s pity, after Albus told him they’d lost.

Taking a pull from his water bottle, Albus shook out his arms and legs, stretching his ankles one by one and gritting his teeth as he put his own mouthguard back in. Shoving his helmet back on his head, he waited for the whistle to signal the final period. 

Twenty short minutes stood between a win or a loss. He wasn’t sure what would happen if they drew, but drawing wasn’t in the plan. They had to win.

\---------

In the first five minutes of the third period, the Panthers scored twice. The Steelers families, friends and fans were agitated and antsy, and the sound of their feet drumming on the floor seemed to go right the way through Albus’s skin into his bloodstream. He was trying his best not to panic and lose his cool, but they really couldn’t afford to let in any more goals.

Luckily, their combined desperation seemed to ignite a new fierceness in Yann, and the Steelers’ Centre sliced across the pitch, passing and receiving and shooting like a tornado. Eight minutes later, and the Sheffield team had equalised. Two minutes after that, they’d pulled ahead.

At ten goals to nine and with seven minutes to go, Albus thought he’d never been as stressed in his life. If only they had to hold their lead, it would be one thing, but the Panthers had lost none of their ferocity. They were out to win too, and unless the Steelers blocked every Panther shot on target, they needed to score even more.

As luck would have it, Craig put away another puck not a minute later - but that was closely followed by the Steelers conceding two more goals, making the two teams neck and neck once more. Albus thought he could hear James yelling even over the cacophony of noise from the stands, and he prayed his nerve would hold for the final three minutes.

The game had turned even more desperate; with sticks clashing and skates screaming at every turn, players from both teams blocking their opponents with a raw force that Albus had never seen in a game before. Each side had a few more near misses, and more than once Albus worried he’d injured himself as he flung himself down on the ice and back up, ignoring the sweat dripping down his face and the ache in his knees.

With just thirty seconds to go, the score was still 11-11, and Albus was frantically trying to work out what that meant for the points system whilst attempting to stay fully present and aware of his surroundings. 

The Steelers currently had control of the puck, and Albus watched in slow motion as Karl fought off a Panthers Left Winger over at the other side of the pitch, spiralled past their Defence and shoved his stick out to his right, making the puck fly in a perfect arch to where Craig was waiting for it. Yann belted towards his teammate, shoving the Panther’s Right Defence out of Craig’s way, and cleared a path between Craig and the goalie.

Time seemed to stop still completely. Albus barely breathed as members of his own team and the Panthers also froze, literally hearing the seconds tick down as they saw Craig line-up his target and shoot for the stars.

Albus heard what had happened before he saw it; his eyes needing time to properly process what Craig had done. The roar of the crowd almost deafened him as his heart leapt.

Craig had scored. 

With just two seconds before the final whistle - and yes, there it was - Craig had scored.

He had won. 

It was 12-11 to the Sheffield Steelers.

Before Albus could react, his teammates were crowding around, thumping him and hugging each other and screaming themselves hoarse. Albus started laughing, quietly at first and then more hysterically, not quite daring to believe it. 

_They’d won_. 

The Steelers really had come third. That meant a place on the podium, and a chance at getting better sponsorship. And, it meant that Albus had a better chance of being scouted. He didn’t even know if he definitely wanted to be in the Senior team - but the choice was what was important. Having the choice would mean everything.

Thinking about choices made him think about Scorpius, and thinking about Scorpius made him grin wildly again. Yelling and jumping and roaring, the Steelers - Craig in the middle, being half dragged across the pitch by the rest of them - made their way over the side of the ice, where their families had gathered to congratulate them.

Albus saw James at the very front of the crowd, elation on his face, and his dad looking almost as happy just behind him. Lily stood just off to the side with their mum, wary of getting crushed but fist bumping the air and shouting something unintelligible all the same.

As much as he wanted to hug them all and stay in this little bubble with his family and teammates forever, he also couldn’t wait to get out of there and tell his best friend what had happened.

\---------

Later that evening, Albus still hadn’t had a chance to call Scorpius, and he was getting slightly desperate. He’d text his friend briefly as soon as he’d got changed, sending a ridiculous selfie of him, Yann and Craig half dressed and cheering, and Scorpius had replied immediately with about a hundred of the party popper emojis. However, from there Albus had been driven home by James, who’d ‘popped in’ to Morrisons and come out with a crate of Fosters, clearly intending to toast Albus’s win with style. 

They’d arrived home to find Harry, Ginny and Lily had beaten them to the idea, two glasses of champagne waiting for them on the kitchen table. Albus had blushed, not wanting to make too much of a big deal of things, but after a mouthful or two of bubbles he’d been swept up in the mood of the day, cramming into the garden and debating loudly with the rest of them about whether to have a barbecue or get a takeaway for dinner.

A takeaway had won out, and as the Potters tucked into a top notch curry from the Cardamom House, Albus had to admit it had been a pretty special day. The only thing that could have made it better was if Scorpius had joined them - Albus had invited him and Mr Malfoy a few days ago, but Scorpius was clearly superstitious as he’d insisted he had to chill out with his Dad the day before a comp, doing whatever they both did. He had sounded incredibly sorry, and Albus had understood - and it wasn’t like he wouldn’t see Scorpius tomorrow anyway.

However, it was now almost bedtime, and Albus felt like he just couldn’t wait until the next afternoon to hear his best friend’s voice. He’d had three beers as well as his glass of champagne, and although they’d been spread out over the evening, he was definitely feeling a little more tipsy than normal. Albus didn’t really drink, as a rule - it interfered with his training and he wasn’t keen on the feeling anyway - but today had been a one off. A _special occasion_. James had even threatened to drag him into Chennels earlier, and the only way Albus could get out of that horror show was to casually sip at another beer in the comfort and safety of his own back garden, claiming to be more than happy where he was.

Although he’d had no desire to actually get drunk, Albus didn’t hate the tiny increase in confidence he had when he was a little bit buzzed. Ordinarily, he overthought and unpicked every single interaction he had with Scorpius, but tonight, he felt happy and at ease with the world. He was longing to talk to Scorpius, and he didn’t even care if he sounded too weird or too keen. Scorpius had drawn him an amazing piece of art earlier, and Albus wanted to thank him for it. Properly.

Escaping to his bedroom under the guise of using the bathroom, Albus dialled Scorpius’s number, throwing himself on to his bed. The ringing tone repeated itself over and over before finally dropping, and Albus brought his phone round from his ear to stare at it. He hadn’t considered that Scorpius might not pick up.

He was just about to hit redial when he finally noticed the time in the top right corner and immediately hanging up, before flinging his phone across the room in horror.

It was 10.45pm. Late. SO late. WAY too late to be calling Scorpius, who was very very likely already in bed, ahead of his very very important competition the next day.

Albus shook his head, dumbfounded. He was a total arse. How had he lost track of time so badly? How was it already 10.45? How did he not realise it had got _dark_?

Cursing himself, James, beer and the general universe, Albus crawled across his room, retrieving his phone from where it had landed. He opened Whatsapp and sent Scorpius a series of grovelling apologies, followed by some more emojis, followed by a heartfelt admission of how much Albus was looking forward to seeing him tomorrow that Albus would definitely not have sent had he been stone cold sober.

Groaning, he then pulled off his joggers and replaced them with his pyjama bottoms, before tugging off his t-shirt and getting into bed. He hadn’t said goodnight to any of his family, but he figured they’d work out where he’d gone. They all had to be up tomorrow morning anyway, so they should be getting to bed soon themselves.

With thoughts of Manchester and Scorpius and trophies and hugs and good food filling his mind, Albus fell asleep, dreaming of the next day and the promise it held.

\----------

“Albus! Oi, Albus! Wake up you great lump. Mum’s stressing.”

Albus scrunched his face up and opened his eyes seconds before a cushion hit him square in the nose. James’s helpless laugh filtered through Albus’s confusion, and Albus rolled over, dropping the cushion onto the floor with a muffled moan.

“Don’t tell me you’re hungover, little bro. You had, like, a sip all night,” James smirked, sounding way too chirpy given how much he’d drank the previous evening.

“Mmpph. Nothungover. Justired.” Albus yawned, proving his point.

“Never mind being tired, Mum’s having a hernia about being late for your bff’s special day. Please get up and help me talk her down from the roof.”

Albus sat up, blinking. James was already fully dressed, and actually looked like he’d made an effort. He was wearing the new Levi’s he’d bought with his first paycheck, and an actual shirt, and it even looked like he’d done something with his hair.

“Wassa rush?” Albus mumbled, fumbling about on his bedside table for his phone. “Iss only wha, 9 - ELEVEN!!”

Albus shot out of bed, furious with himself.

“For fucks sake James! It’s 11! Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” He stumbled across the room, frantically rubbing his eyes and grabbing a towel from his wardrobe. “We should be leaving soon!”

“I know that,” James rolled his eyes, clearly amused at Albus’s confusion. “That’s why Mum’s getting worked up. Though as I keep telling her, it only takes an hour to get to Manchester. We don’t actually have to leave for ages.”

Albus was already halfway to the bathroom, but he turned to scowl at James.

“Mum’s right, we are gonna be late at this rate. I can’t believe no one woke me. Now piss off whilst I get ready.”

James laughed, whistling. “Chill out my dude. It’s only Scorpius. Or is that why you’re all het up about looking nice?”

Fuming, Albus slammed the bathroom door, causing Harry to yell up the stairs and James to laugh his head off as he went back down them. Albus couldn’t believe he’d slept in, Scorpius would surely be wondering why he hadn’t heard from Albus yet - 

Oh god. _Scorpius_. Albus groaned again as he turned the shower on, remembering his late night call and follow up series of messages. As he stood under the spray, he weighed up the merits of just drowning himself then and there. It’d solve both the being late, not calling in time and being a soppy sap issues, and he’d even be going out on a high after his win yesterday. 

Ugh. As Albus scrubbed his hair, he knew that no matter how well - or not - today ended up going, after its less than auspicious start, he was never drinking again.

\----------

An hour and a half later, after a very hurried early lunch of leftover curry, Albus, James, Lily, Ginny and Harry were speeding down the motorway to Manchester. Albus had done some quick damage control over Whatsapp earlier, and luckily it sounded as though Scorpius hadn’t been the slightest bit bothered or annoyed by Albus’s late night messages or his lack of communication that morning. In fact, he’d replied to Albus’s hastily written ‘sorry, so sorry, setting off now, slept in and james was been a right dick’ with a couple of laughing emojis and a sincere sounding _Can’t wait to see you! Dad’s already getting bored and I’m slowly losing my mind. Too much to think about!_

Albus tried not to think about what Scorpius found _too much to think about_. He knew Scorpius probably meant his bowing out of skating, rather than seeing Albus again, but it was a losing battle telling Albus’s ever-so-slightly hungover brain that. Instead, he stared out of the window, earplugs in and The National reverberating around the bit of his mind that wasn’t entirely focused on Scorpius.

He’d got dressed in a bit of a rush earlier and copied James, choosing a pair of his nicest black jeans and a smart forest green jumper that his Grandma Molly had hand knitted last Christmas, claiming the colour complimented his eyes. He wasn’t sure if it did or not, but the jumper was infinitely nicer and probably a lot cooler than any of his store bought clothes, at least in a hipster way, and Albus thought Scorpius might appreciate that. 

His dad had donned chinos and a shirt, and his Mum had chosen a slightly nicer dress than she’d usually wear on a Sunday. Lily, outdoing herself as ever, had taken her idea of a dungaree collection to heart after seeing Scorpius last Sunday and had already hand-dyed an old pair of hers, bleaching a swirly pattern into them and embroidering flowers across the front pocket. They were beautiful in a really bold way, and Albus found himself thinking how much Scorpius would like them, and how good he’d probably look in a similar pair.

As they exited the motorway at Salford Quays, Albus felt a familiar swooping sensation in his stomach. He’d bet James and Teddy all the money he had right now that he was even more anxious about today than Scorpius himself was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll likely be pleased to know we're almost on the home stretch!! When I hinted at this being a slow burn... I was not joking.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I'm saying is, you're welcome. I hope it was worth the wait!

“Albus!”

Albus turned, recognising Scorpius’s voice at once. They’d just entered the rink at MediaCity and were standing around in the entrance looking a little lost, so Albus had texted Scorpius to ask which stand to head toward on the off chance Scorpius still had his phone on him.

Scorpius hadn’t replied but was now coming towards them, grinning madly and looking happier than Albus had ever seen him.

“Hey, Albus! Hi, Mr and Mrs Potter! And Lily and James! Thanks again for coming, I -”

Scorpius had reached them and without thinking, Albus had engulfed his friend in a hug. It was an _I’m so proud of you_ and _thank you for the drawing_ and _good luck today_ and _it’s great to see you_ and _I’m sorry for being an idiot last night_ hug, and after a split second of surprise Albus felt himself being hugged back, fiercely. 

“Um,” said Scorpius, smiling into Albus’s ear, “Do we hug now?”

Albus blushed, and let go. He hadn’t intended to grab Scorpius and manhandle him, but he couldn’t help it. It felt like they were reuniting after months apart, during which time huge things had happened - although, Albus supposed, even though it had only been a week, huge things *had* happened.

“Scorp!” called James, smirking at Albus and reaching out to clap Scorpius on the shoulder. “Looking good mate.”

Albus looked down at what Scorpius was wearing, and had to agree with James. Scorpius had on a pair of navy blue lycra leggings speckled with glitter, which on closer inspection perfectly resembled stars and constellations. His top half was mostly covered in a light blue zip up hoody with the logo of an old competition from 2015 on the chest, and Albus noted with a smile that Scorpius had chewed through the cuffs. Beneath the collar, Albus could see a shimmer of similar coloured glitter to Scorpius’s leggings. He was clearly already changed for his dance.

“We’re over on the far side, Dad’s managed to get a booth type area right by the rink, ex-colleague privileges.” Scorpius rolled his eyes affectionately and led the Potters through a nearby doorway, up some stairs, across the arena and down some more stairs at the other side. As Albus got closer, he spotted Mr Malfoy waving at them from a little boxed out area separate from the normal stands.

“Albus,” said Mr Malfoy as they approached, and Albus reached out his hand to shake Scorpius’s dad’s hand, just like James had done to Scorpius. He missed Harry smiling at him proudly, but turned to see him do the same thing a second later and greet Mr Malfoy with a firm shake. They did seem to vaguely recognise each other, and Harry chatted away warmly as Mr Malfoy kissed Ginny on the cheek, shook James’s hand and then laughed as Lily also stuck her hand out instead of offering her own cheek.

Albus let himself be pulled slightly to the side by Scorpius, who was fiddling with a spare bobble around his wrist.

“I can’t believe you won yesterday - I mean I can, you’re clearly brilliant, but wow, Albus, I’m so proud of you! Did you get the trophy straight away? What happens now?”

Albus laughed, brightening even more at Scorpius’s obvious enthusiasm. “Thanks, Scorp. And thank you so much for doing that drawing - it was incredible, really, I loved it. And nah, there’s like a presentation ceremony thing on Tuesday evening with the top three teams, it’s where they present the cups and take all the photos and everything.”

Scorpius listened, wide eyed. 

“That’s so exciting! I bet you can’t wait to touch the cup. Will you be in the news?”

“Probably,” Albus replied, feeling the ghost of nerves again. “Though only like, the Barnsley Chronicle. I doubt the BBC are interested.”

“They should be!” said Scorpius loyally, reaching out and touching Albus’s arm. “You deserve to be famous and have fans and sign autographs and everything!”

Albus blushed, even though he knew Scorpius was joking.

“Yeah… anyway, enough about me. How are you? Everything still… good? What’s the plan for today?”

“Everything’s _great_ ,” Scorpius said eagerly. “Me and Dad have never been better, to be honest. I feel really close to him, and I just want to have fun today. Enjoy the time we have left before I decide what to do next.”

Albus nodded. “Cool. So no nerves then?”

“A bit,” Scorpius grinned. “I mean, I don’t wanna fall on my arse in front of you. But I don’t really care if I place or not.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you won’t fall,” Albus nudged Scorpius. “You’re amazing. You’re gonna nail it.”

“Thanks, Albus.” It was Scorpius’s turn to blush, and as he dipped his head down, Albus noticed the intricate braids across his crown. He gasped a little, holding his breath. Scorpius had the majority of his hair pulled back into a neat bun, but tiny little plaits criss-crossed each other from his temple to his neck, weaving their way into a dark blue ribbon holding everything in place.

“Scorp, your hair…” Albus started.

“Do you like it?” Scorpius looked at Albus, bringing his hand up to his head and gently fingering the braids. “It took Dad ages this morning, we were up at the crack of dawn. His most elaborate style yet I think.”

“It’s… it’s really cool,” Albus swallowed, not really trusting his voice not to wobble. He’d never seen anyone with hair done like Scorpius’s before, even Mr Malfoys, which was in a much less detailed version of the ponytail braid he’d had in two Sundays ago.

Scorpius smiled shyly and opened his mouth to reply, only to be cut off by the tannoy. His expression changed immediately, going from pleased to surprised to nervous to somewhere in the middle, and he looked past Albus to where his Dad had been chatting to the Potters.

“This is me! I have to go. There’s two people skating before me, so if you need a wee or anything, go now. I’ll be on in like, 20 minutes. Half an hour tops.”

Albus squeezed Scorpius’s hand, once again acting without really thinking about it, and nodded. His throat suddenly felt dry, and he wasn’t quite sure how he was going to wait 20-30 minutes without spontaneously combusting.

Scorpius headed off through a little doorway underneath the nearest staircase, and Albus scooted closer to where Mr Malfoy and his family were standing. My Malfoy looked nervous and proud, James was pointing something out to Ginny, and Lily was looking around at what all the skaters were wearing, her eyes shining. 

Albus caught his dad’s eye and Harry smiled at him, some kind of understanding passing through them. Albus swallowed, teetering on the edge of embarrassment, but found that actually, he didn’t really mind that his dad somehow knew how he felt for Scorpius. Harry had been the one to suggest they all come here, after all - it wasn’t like he wasn’t going to accept Scorpius being in Albus’s life, however that may look.

They spent the next 15 or so minutes chatting between them, keeping one eye on the rink for any signs of movement and one ear out for the tannoy, which would announce each skater as they made their way onto the ice. Just as Albus’s dad was entertaining Mr Malfoy with tales of his own hilarious skating accidents, the lights in the arena dimmed and a hush came over the stands. Everyone who was still standing sat down, and Albus found himself wedged in between James and Mr Malfoy, who was now gripping the little railing at the front of their booth tightly.

Crossing his fingers in his lap, Albus waited, and all too soon the first skater was announced. It wasn’t Scorpius, but whoever it was skated amazingly, somehow managing to pull off a fast and jolly sounding jig around the rink for two and a half minutes. Albus applauded politely when he’d finished; the boy had been good, but not a patch on Scorpius.

The second skater in Scorpius’s category chose music a little more in line with what Albus had expected, he vaguely recognised the classical tune and watched in awe as this boy swooped and twirled across the rink in time with the violins. Again, he was talented, but Albus still thought Scorpius was better.

After the second boy had finished, Albus found himself holding his breath as the seconds ticked by, waiting for Scorpius to make his entrance. He glanced at Mr Malfoy and saw Scorpius’s dad was pulling a similar face, his lips clamped tightly together and his eyes not leaving the archway that led from the rink into the changing rooms. Palms sweating, Albus twisted his fingers together even tighter, praying that Scorpius danced like he had the times Albus had seen him in practice.

Just when Albus thought he was going to have to let out his breath or pass out, the tannoy announced Scorpius’s name, and Albus exhaled so loudly he wouldn’t be surprised if the people sat on the opposite side of the rink heard him. In the moment though, he couldn’t have cared less - he couldn’t take his eyes off Scorpius, who had made his way out into the centre of the ice and was waiting, head bowed, until his chosen music kicked in. The spotlight reflected off his sparkly catsuit and his blonde hair positively gleamed, and Albus knew without a doubt he had never seen anything or anyone as beautiful as Scorpius in his whole life.

As the soft notes of a piano filled the room, Albus once again had a strange urge to cry. Hearing a small sniff next to him, he saw Mr Malfoy reach into his pocket and pull out a small linen handkerchief, before wiping his own eyes discreetly. Ignoring the urge to do something weird like pat Scorpius’s dad on the leg, Albus looked back at his friend, seeing him slowly start to revolve as the music picked up and filled the room.

The next two and a half minutes were honestly some of the best moments of Albus’s life. He even forgot it was Scorpius he was watching for a few seconds, so enthralled was he at just how good his friend was. Albus watched Scorpius leap and turn and spin and loop and slide, and once again he thought how easy Scorpius made it look, and how fluidly he moved. 

This music was also perfect for Scorpius - it sounded like the sea and space personified, the notes echoing around the arena, crashing over each other and complimenting each other perfectly. Albus didn’t know whether the music was inspiring Scorpius or if Scorpius was inspiring the music, either way, the two were in perfect harmony, and Albus felt Scorpius’s dance under his skin and inside his heart.

All too soon, it was over, and Scorpius finished on the corkscrew spin Albus had seen him practicing the very first time he’d noticed him. When Scorpius finally came to a standstill, you could have heard a pin drop. It wasn’t just Albus who knew they’d watched something really special.

Albus felt like he was going to burst, and he still didn’t know what to do with his hands - he wanted so badly to applause, but that didn’t seem to be the done thing here, so he settled with clenching his fists so tightly his nails almost bedded into his skin. Looking at the rest of his family, he saw shocked and impressed expressions on all of their faces, and Scorpius’s dad was now openly but silently crying, tears falling gently down his face.

Mr Malfoy saw Albus looking and smiled, wiping his tears away. “Sorry,” he said, his voice a bit thick. “The music… the music is what Astoria and I last danced to. It was her favourite song.”

Albus nodded, he’d suspected as much. “It’s… it’s really beautiful, sir.”

Mr Malfoy smiled again. “Draco, please, Albus. ‘Sir’ makes me feel like a schoolteacher.”

Albus blushed. “Er, yes, Dra-Mr Malfoy.” He couldn’t do it. Draco just felt too weird.

“Well, Draco,” Harry coughed, obviously having no qualms about using Mr Malfoy’s given name. “You must be so proud. That was incredible. Scorpius is ever so talented.”

Now it was Mr Malfoy’s turn to blush and look pleased. “Yes, thank you. I’m extremely proud of him. In everything and anything he does.”

Albus heard the significance behind Mr Malfoys’s chosen words, and smiled to himself. He was so glad that everything had worked out for Scorpius. With the pressure off, Scorpius had clearly been able to enjoy today, and that had shown in his his skating and the energy he radiated. Whether he ever chose to skate again was up to him - but Albus would be shocked if he didn’t leave on a high today, with a medal at the very least.

\----------

Unsurprisingly, Scorpius did come first in his category. Albus couldn’t even remember a single skater after him, and barely remembered either of the ones that danced before. Watching Scorpius receive his medal after scoring the highest points in the entire competition was almost as good as watching Craig score the winning shot the previous day, and it didn’t matter that Scorpius had already unofficially hung up his skates - he deserved every bit of recognition and praise he got for his routine today, and all the work and emotion that had gone into it. And, judging by the genuine smile that lit up his face as the medal was placed over his head, he was actually enjoying himself as much as Albus was.

Albus waited impatiently as Scorpius then posed for about a million photos and received what looked like hundreds of congratulatory handshakes, from judges, fellow skaters, coaches and random official looking people. He stayed with his family in their booth as Mr Malfoy did the rounds with Scorpius, catching up with people he knew and resting his hand on Scorpius’s shoulder proudly. Albus’s eyes never left Scorpius, and every so often Scorpius would look over at Albus, his smile lighting up his face just for his friend, before turning back to talk to yet another friend or parent.

Finally, everyone who wanted to shake Scorpius’s hand seemed to have done so, and he practically ran back to where Albus was sitting, medal swinging around his neck and constellations sparkling. 

Albus felt his stomach leap, and before he knew what he was doing, before he had time to overthink or plan or even realise what was happening, he’d stood up and held his arms out for another hug. Scorpius launched himself into them, squeezing Albus tight and looking him straight in the eye - and then he kissed him.

Scorpius kissed him, on the lips, just like that. 

Properly. Like he meant it.

Albus didn’t care that every single member of his immediate family was standing right behind him. He didn’t care that Scorpius’s own dad had been right behind Scorpius on his way over. He didn’t even care that the arena was still filled with hundreds of people, including the local press, who had cameras everywhere. 

Albus only cared that Scorpius was in his arms, and that he was kissing him, and that he seemed to be as into this as Albus was. 

The kiss was warm and soft and made Albus’s lips tingle, and after a second which felt like an eternity, he could feel Scorpius smiling into his mouth. Then the kiss deepened, and Scorpius’s hands were in Albus’s hair, and Albus’s hands were around Scorpius’s waist, brushing against the sparkles and not quite believing that they got to _touch_ like this.

It was better than any expectation, any fantasy, any dream that Albus had ever had. Scorpius somehow tasted faintly of strawberries, and kept running his tongue over Albus’s bottom lip, which was so brilliant and delicious and undeniably hot that Albus almost couldn’t bear it. He sort of forgot to breathe, but he didn’t care, because all he needed was _Scorpius, Scorpius, Scorpius_.

A small cough worked its way into Albus’s consciousness and they reluctantly broke apart, Albus blushing harder than he ever had in his life as he happened to look Mr Malfoy straight in the eye. Scorpius’s dad was obviously trying very hard to seem stern, but a smile was playing on his lips and Albus knew instantly that he didn’t mind. 

Unable to keep the grin off his own face, Albus looked back at Scorpius, whose golden eyes were shining. Albus was sorely tempted to get back to kissing him again and again, right here and now, and actually leaned in before something thumped him on the back and James’s voice derailed that particular train of thought.

“As sweet and unsurprising and totally not at all unexpected _this_ ” - he waved his hand between Scorpius and Albus - “is, I’m absolutely starving, so if you two could save your snogging for after dinner, that’d be grand.”

Albus and Scorpius both dissolved into giggles, equally as red as each other. Albus felt high, he couldn’t imagine how James could be hungry; when he himself felt as though he could happily spend the rest of the night with nothing but Scorpius anywhere near his mouth. On the other hand, he hoped now that they’d done… _that_ … there’d be enough time later to explore every new avenue it had opened up. Especially now that Scorpius actually had more time.

Albus turned to face his Mum and Dad, not quite expecting to see his Dad smirking as hard as James. His Mum was clearly trying not to laugh, and Lily also looked delighted at the day's development, winking at Albus before rushing in to hug Scorpius herself.

If Albus had ever been happier than he was right now, he couldn’t remember it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could have ended this fic here (and I originally did!) but then I felt like I couldn't leave without saying a proper goodbye to Lily... so the next tiny bonus chapter is just for her!


	11. Chapter 11

After Scorpius had got changed and hugged everyone in the arena he hadn’t already got round to, including his own dad again about twenty times, the two Malfoys and five Potters headed out into the late afternoon sun, squinting as their eyes adjusted to daylight. Scorpius and Albus were holding hands, and Albus couldn’t believe he’d resisted doing this every time they’d met up already. He couldn’t quite believe he was doing it now, if he was honest.

“So, what’s the plan then? You two still on for dinner, Draco, Scorpius?” Harry asked.

Mr Malfoy nodded. “It would be our pleasure to eat together. And I doubt I’ll be able to drag Scorpius away from your son anytime soon…” He shot a quick smile at Scorpius, rolling his eyes just like Scorpius often did to him. “Do you boys have anywhere in mind?”

Scorpius looked up at his dad. “Er, could we go to The Allotment? It’s vegan, and apparently really cool?”

Albus laughed as Scorpius glanced back at Lily, and Lily responded by high fiving him with both hands. So Lily had somehow managed to get Scorpius on side, although Albus had no idea when she’d spoken to him long enough to sort that out. Albus had to hand it to his sister - she was brilliantly devious when she wanted to be.

“Sounds good to me,” Draco said easily. “Do you know the way?”

“I rather suspect my daughter might,” said Ginny drily, narrowing her eyes at Lily. “You are truly incorrigible, Lily Luna Potter.”

Lily laughed. “It’s Scorpius’s choice Mum, you heard him. But yes, I do happen to know the way. We can get a tram from over here.”

Albus and Scorpius hung back as Harry, Ginny, and Mr Malfoy followed Lily to the nearby tram stop, James trailing after them. Stealing another quick kiss, Albus smiled softly at Scorpius, still in awe that he now got to do _this_ with his friend. With his… boyfriend?

They’d see. Albus didn’t really care what they called themselves. All he knew was that whatever label they ended up using; he really, really liked this new version of them. The one that he’d had in his head from the start, and that was now finally as real as the pale hand in his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnnd that is now OFFICIALLY a wrap!! 
> 
> Thank you, so much, to everyone who has read this far, and thank you again to everyone who has enjoyed it, commented, or kudos'd this sweet little story along the way. It's probably one of my favourite things I've ever written, and it's been an absolute blast working on it and getting to know the fic writer community better - you're all an utter inspiration, and I can't wait to read what you've each come up with in return!
> 
> I'm @xpectopatronerd on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr if anyone wants to chat about Scorbus, HP or CC!


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